Portal: Newcomers
by Esperwen
Summary: -the sixth Portal fanfic- Barely a full school year has passed since Michelle and Denise discovered the greenhouse; everything seems to be going well, with fair grades and a proper storyline...but what happens when someone new wants to break the rules?
1. Academic April

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, the month of April, PA Days (university has no PA Days...!), holidays (which we almost never have), and a whole lot of other things that we don't have time to list out, right now.

Esperwen: Portal is back! Please forgive me! I meant to post throughout all of last week. Seriously.

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**Chapter One: Academic April**

April can be an important time to people. For some, it signifies the approach of a new season, but for the eleven portal-users this was not the reason they were so concerned. For others, the Monday of the third week of April is a day off from school, due to it being a PA Day. The portal-users attended school, as either students or a teacher, but since the PA Day did not apply to highschools, this was not the reason why the portal users cared about April. In fact, the portal-users were feeling fairly stressed about April. Why? Because during one sunny Friday, they had been reminded of the due dates of at least three major projects each, informed of the dates of at least two important tests or exams, and there was, of course, the monumental distribution of:

"Report cards!"

The Math teacher who was Michelle, Shaun, Hinata, Kyle and Nat's homeroom teacher, had uttered those two, hateful words with a seemingly mocking smile. She was also the only one in the room who was feeling perky at that moment. The four abovesaid teenagers were especially tense, that day.

_I have to get good grades!_ Hinata White thought, doing her little finger trick like she usually did when nervous, _I know it's only grade eleven, but if I can't get good grades, I can't get a scholarship, and I need one if I want to go to college._

In this world, eleventh grader Hinata (of the Hyuuga family, once upon a time) had been moving between foster homes since she was twelve; now, she lived with Denise, but she didn't know how long she could stay. Her social worker had said 'something around a year', but there were never any guarantees for Hinata. Still, though she was quiet, Hinata had grown tough from her past, shaky three years. She still stuttered when talking to strangers, teachers, and a certain blonde classmate, but she was a very determined, smart and hard-working individual.

_I think I did alright,_ Shaun Anderson thought, adjusting his sunglasses with a finger, _But I've only been in this school for this one semester; I hope they tranferred my marks from my old school properly._

Thanks to his father, who worked with a large business, Shaun (or Aburame Shino, in another world) had moved to his current neighbourhood when Mr. Anderson had been transferred to work in the big city. Arrangements for his academic marks had been made, but nothing about the school system was flawless, as everyone knows. But of course, Shaun was intelligent, and always tried to use it to the best of his abilities; if there were any problems with transferring his marks, Shaun would still be able to make a comeback, somehow.

_If I don't get at least a 75 average, my parents will make me go back to my old school,_ Kyle Douglas thought, burying his head in his arms, on his desk, _And then I'll have to live with my great-aunt again! Ugh, she's a nice old lady, but her house smells awful, and she's scared of my dogs..._

Kyle, or Inuzuka Kiba as he used to be called, was the eldest son of frequently travelling parents; his mother was a travel agent, who personally inspected different destinations, while his father was a scientist who was working on a project in another country. Originally, he had lived with his mother's aunt, but after learning about the successful sports teams and experienced coaches at the school he was sitting, he had transferred over the first chance he got. He planned to use his strength to be a police officer, and all of his physical abilities from Konoha had stayed with him when entering our world, giving him a definite edge.

_How many assignments did I forget to hand in?_ Nathan Makizu thought, counting on his fingers worriedly, _Let's see...three in English, four in Health, maybe two in World History..._

Nat, or Uzumaki Naruto, had been brought up with his younger brother by his grandfather, and had lived downtown. He had also heard of the sports programs in this school, and since Kyle's mother was Nat's grandfather's travel agent and family friend, Nat was sharing an apartment with Kyle at a nearby building while they attended their school. Though he no longer had chakra, Nat was still a good athlete; he planned on going to the Olympics and gaining at least three gold medals after breaking a few world records. He had come from a poor neighbourhood, and he wanted someone to shine a little glory on it; his feisty nature made him the perfect candidate.

_I should've done my homework,_ Michelle Salanga thought, her hands shaking while she clasped them together in her lap, _I _know_ I could've done at least five percent better on all of my tests, if I had only done the work. That's mostly seventies on my tests, right there!_

Though she was a hard worker as Inuzuka Michiko in Konoha, Michelle was a notorious procrastinator in her grade. She was rather shy around unfamiliar people, so only a handful of people knew that what she lacked in academic discipline, she made up for when taking care of her friends and family. Some of her friends even jokingly called her their mom, from time to time.

At another side of the school, a certain English class was also steeling itself for recieving their report cards. Side by side at the back of the classroom, Corey, Phil and Isaac showed no outward signs of any particular worry.

_Meh..._thought Philip Jones, sitting balanced on his chair with his legs in a lotus position, _I did my best. ...okay, not really, but I know I did okay._

_Communist teachers with idiotic marks..._Corey Smith thought to himself darkly, _I mean...yes, I am a happy person...stupid talk-show therapist, forcing his mundane self-help remarks into my brain, making me assimilate..._

_Hn,_ 17-year-old Isaac (with no last name) thought, eloquent as usual.

Phil, also known as Raiko Firu, Corey, or Hyuuga Korii, and Isaac, better known as the infamous Uchiha Itachi, were three all-around normal students. If they cared more (or at all) about their schooling, they would be exceptional students; all of them had good IQs, knew all the lessons that they heard when (or if) they attended class, and understood everything in the classes they had chosen for themselves. But, they were more apathetic than most people were, and probably the students most left alone by the teachers; their constant usage of dark clothing and naturally intimidating auras kept most people at bay, which was all right by them. Except for the people in their hallway, where all of their friends' lockers were, they didn't care about school or the rest of humanity in general.

In the furthest corner of that high school, there was an isolated hallway. There was an ongoing legend that the architects of the school kept the hallway apart in this fashion, because the courses held there were the least popular ones (because nobody likes to take the Arts), and umours whispered that once those classes were cancelled, blowing up that area would be no problem or safety threat, due to its separation from the rest of the school. Which was complete nonsense, of course. And as it happened, one of the classes held in that hallway was music, which was also Denise's homeroom.

_Ugh...I hate report cards, _Denise Tomas thought, shifting in her seat while waiting for her teacher to reach her name on the class list and hand her her marks for the semester, _Can I help it if they give us stupid projects that I don't care about?_

Called Deniizu in another world, ninth grader Denise was famous for her poor academic discipline with several grades and most teachers. She had a 'tough girl' reputation, however, so like three of her male friends, she was more often than not left alone by other people. The only times she excelled, if she attended class, were during Music, Gym, and Math; the only class she consistently attended was Music. And, if you read 'Portal - Transitions', this was only because she and the teacher had made a deal with each other: if she attended and worked hard in class, then he made sure all her absences from class disappeared.

_She should have been the more careful with these theory homework I assign,_ the tenth portal user, Ionel Stoica, thought, mildly upset, _Instead of 80, she may have had the 90. Maybe even a hundred._

Ionel, or Satoki Inel in Konoha, was a music teacher in most of the portal-users' school. In his late forties, he was the same enthusiastic, musical individual (with the same poor grammar) as he was in the other world. And of course, he was also the hacker that cleaned up nine students' attendance records; they very often skipped Monday's lessons to switch worlds, after all.

The same 11 to 12 o'clock timer was on the 11 portal-users' greenhouse; the greenhouse only revealed itself on Monday, as it always had. But even Denise knew that they could not skip every Monday for class; for one thing, Inel had to teach other classes, and for another, teachers would eventually become suspicious if all nine friends kept disappearing for one day of each week.

Sometimes Inel stayed behind in their home world; his group, Team 13, did not always require him to teach them in Konoha, and he already had a reputation for randomly disappearing, as many Konoha jounins might tell you. But the other students still needed to stay in school on some Mondays; sometimes Pauline and only Team 8 would return, sometimes just Pooriin with Itachi, or Firu, if they were on important missions that they didn't want to leave for too long. The whole group travelled together only occasionally, usually just once every three weeks. Also, during long breaks, such as their free week during spring break, or winter holidays, when they could spend more than just three or four days in Konoha, they had decided that if even one person could not go, none of them could.

Such a problem had happened just three months before, all throughout January. Since they had already been on an 'extended trip' during winter break (when really they were taking part in their first Chuunin Exam, among other things), and since they had academic exams in January, none of the portal-users could skip school, which meant that neither could Pauline.

This was not the case for the next Monday; all of the abovesaid portal-users could go into Konoha for three days. This was the first time that they could travel as a whole group back to Konoha since spring break. Unfortunately, some of the portal-users knew that if the marks on their report cards were not high enough to meet their parents' expectations, then that would require less dimension-hopping in the near future. All in all, the portal-users couldn't wait for summer to come, and the school year to be over, because if they didn't have school, then there wouldn't be a need to attend classes or study, and they could spend even more time in Konoha.

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Esperwen: Ok, because I am two days late, I am going to post another chapter. But after this, I'm updating only on Tuesdays, so remember that.

Denise: I'm alive! You didn't decide to just stop writing!

Esperwen: What're you talking about?! I love writing! I just haven't had very much time, lately. University teachers are slave drivers...


	2. Marks and to Pauline's House

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters or themes affiliated, stoichiometry, poor hygiene, auras of anger, good and poor (or nonexistant) study habits, stupid marks, etc. etc.

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**Chapter Two: Marks and to Pauline's House**

"I will defeat this equation..."

Phil pointed angrily and glared menacingly at his Chemistry textbook, earning a few stares from passersby, which he ignored. A lesser textbook would have crumbled or burned on the spot, but this one stayed solid and flame-free; it was a fiesty tome, Phil had to admit. But then again, doing homework while sitting in a busy school hallway wasn't exactly the best thing to do if you needed to concentrate.

"Phil, what're you doing?" Corey asked, sitting nearby and giving Phil an amused look.

"This stoichiometry question won't cooperate!" Phil exclaimed, stepping onto the book angrily, then yelling at it, "Succumb to my authority, peon!"

"I swear, Phil, lay off the crack," Corey rolled his eyes, going through his MP3 player for another song of anger music.

"Hey, I'm clean," Phil said, pointing at himself, "...For a week, anyway."

"So, the last time you washed your hair was...last week?" Kyle smirked, coming around the corner with Nat.

Kyle carried a gym bag, slung over his shoulder, and Nat had a towel draped over his neck, while he kicked his used gym clothes along the floor. Both had just been in track practice; both were sprinters, Kyle was a triple jumper, and Nat was going to take part in shot put and the long jump when the inter-school track meet took place the next week.

"Not that kind of clean," Corey said calmly, then he tried to change the subject, "How'd your report cards turn out?"

"For your information, I washed my hair five days ago," Phil said calmly, hands on hips, earning more funny (or disgusted) looks from more passersby.

"Ew..." Nat cringed, staying as far from Phil as possible, while keeping within reach of his locker, "That's gross!"

"My average was 75.4, overall," Kyle sighed, ignoring Phil and Nat, "Barely scraped through, but I'll be able to stick with you guys for Grade 12."

"Meh. I got 54.2," Corey shrugged.

"I owned both of you!" Nat said loudly, grinning, "My average is a 78.4!"

"You have a spare period, so you're only taking seven courses at once, and three of those are kinds of Physical Education," Phil pointed out, "Weight training, Fitness, and Grade 11 Phys. Ed."

"Oh yeah?" Nat glared at the former jounin in the corner of his eye, "And what's _your_ average?"

"81.9, and I wasn't even trying," Phil informed him contentedly with a self-satisfied nod, holding up his arms with his hands in fists for his victory pose, "Aw, yeah!"

"..._EH?!_" Nat's jaw dropped and his eyes went completely white, "_MARKS LIKE THAT AREN'T POSSIBLE!"_

"So, how'd practice go?" Corey asked, not really caring about the answer, but exactly interested in the subject at hand.

"It was all right," Kyle shrugged, again doing his best to ignore the other two boys, "Shaun landed weird after one of his high jumps, though. He's gone to the nurse's office to get that checked out," Kyle smirked, "Michelle's helping out there today; I wonder how she'll react to his injury."

"She'll probably make a high-pitched, sad and surprised sound in the back of her throat, then treat Shaun as best she can," Corey guessed, knowing how Michiko usually reacted when he or Deniizu got hurt, "What about Hinata, Isaac and Denise?"

"I didn't see Isaac, so he probably never showed up to watch practice," Nat said, thinking with a hand on his chin, "I think Hinata was studying on the bleachers, so maybe she's on her way now, and Denise is part of cheerleading, and they were practicing while we were, so she's probably still getting changed."

Nat couldn't keep a grin from appearing on his face; he had noticed the six cheerleaders well enough. The school's cheerleaders were not actually an official team; they didn't participate in any competitions. But they still dressed in school-coloured uniforms, and they still came out to cheer during each game; their routines were simple, but they did their best anyway.

"Denise looked good in her uniform, even if she was always arguing with the other cheerleaders," Nat commented, oblivious to a sudden aura of anger coming from behind him, "The skirts were really short, and she showed up a lot with that tight shirt, and-."

"EXCUSE ME!" Denise exclaimed, suddenly appearing at Nat's right and punching him squarely in the jaw, "WHO'RE YOU CALLING A SKANK?" (A/N: 'who're' looks so bad...)

"Shit...! I WASN'T CALLING YOU A SKANK!" Nat exclaimed, sitting on the floor and rubbing the side of his face, "I said you looked good!"

"There you go!" Denise yelled, kicking Nat hard in the kidney, now.

"It's a compliment!" Nat whimpered, keeling over on the ground.

"No, it's not!" _**Whack!**_

"Ano...what's happening...?"

Hinata showed up around the corner at that moment, with Michelle right beside her, and Isaac following silently behind.

"Are both of you fighting _again_?" Michelle added, with a small sigh.

Hinata was carrying three science textbooks in her arms, as well as a filled bookbag on her shoulder, diligent with her studies as ever. Michelle, on the other hand, had a backpack with just one text and notebook in it, and was carrying a novel that she meant to read on the bus; she read more casual books than educational ones. Isaac wasn't carrying anything; all the people in the hallway guessed that he had skipped all this classes that day. Again. Like usual.

"Hey, Phil, Corey," Michelle waved, saluting slightly, "What're you two doing here? School ended over an hour ago."

"Didn't feel like going home," Phil answered nonchalantly, while Corey shrugged.

"...right..." Michelle nodded slowly, thinking, _You _never_ feel like going home..._

"Hey, how's Shaun's ankle?" Nat asked, picking himself up from the ground, "You were helping out at the nurse's office, right?"

"He's hurt? I left early; I needed to go to the library," Michelle answered, suddenly wanting to go back to the office, "You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah," Kyle answered, shouldering his now-full backpack, while Nat nodded in the background.

"Where're you going?" Phil asked, already turning back to his textbook.

"Visiting Pauline," Michelle answered, quickly getting an overnight bag from her locker, then helping Hinata close her own locker, "And us girls're having a sleepover when the guys leave. A sort of 'goodbye to sanity before exam time' thing."

"...Girls are weird," Phil rolled his eyes, before sitting down on the floor again, "They have all these sleepover rituals that don't actually help anything."

Denise started stomping over to the older boy, to kick him in the side, but Michelle quickly linked arms with her and bodily dragged her down the hallway.

"No, Denise," Michelle tsked, "Remember what we learned in kindergarten: Violence _bad_."

"Hah. As if," Corey smirked, before raising a hand lazily in farewell, "Enjoy yourselves, pacifists."

"Yeah, you too, Nazi," Denise grinned, with a 'Hail Hitler' salute, which earned her a dig in the side from Michelle's elbow, "Ok, who's being violent _now_?"

"We'll see you all on Monday," Isaac nodded, and he and the students were gone.

Just as the school nurse got started on bandaging Shaun's ankle, a knock was heard at the office door.

"I'll be right back, Shaun," the nurse smiled, then said over her shoulder while she disappeared around the corner, "Everyone else has gone home for the weekend, so I'm the only one left."

"Sorry for keeping you so late," Shaun apologized, sitting on the examination table patiently, "You're probably looking forward to the weekend."

"Oh, it's no problem," there was a pause, then, "Shaun, you have visitors."

The nurse came back into her small office, with Michelle, Kyle, Hinata and Nat following right behind her. Upon seeing Shaun's swollen ankle, Michelle clapped her hands to her mouth, muffling a yelp which ended up sounding like a squeak in the back of her throat; Kyle and Nat couldn't help but share knowing glances. The four students all meant to wait by the door, but the nurse pulled Michelle with her by the elbow.

"Michelle, you still need 15 minutes to round off that last volunteer hour," Ms. Hamilton said, referring to the 40 hours of unpaid work that all high school students were required to complete before graduation, "Help Shaun with his bandage."

"But shouldn't you-" Michelle started, then got an evil look from her mentor, "Uh, sure! No problem!"

_Ms. Hamilton knows Michelle and Shaun are dating,_ Hinata realized, _She probably thinks it would be cute to watch them..._

"You told her?" Shaun said in a low voice, while the nurse wrote on a clipboard and Michelle picked up the bandage; he and Michelle had wanted to keep their relationship low-key.

"Someone else told her," Michelle answered solemnly, fiddling a bandage between her fingers, "It wasn't me!"

_It was probably Mika,_ Shaun thought, annoyed, _She's like the queen of gossip, with both students and teachers._

"Keep that bandage tight," Ms. Hamilton said sternly, startling the couple, "It's a very minor sprain, but Shaun doesn't want to risk his chances at next week's track meet, now do you, Shaun? Of course you don't," she nodded to herself, not bothering to give Shaun a chance to answer.

The tall 17-year-old shook his head silently, and Kyle sweatdropped; the school's nurse was a nice person, and she had good intentions, but she sometimes appeared a little overbearing. Her 'of course you don't' sounded more like a threat than a concerned comment.

"Guys, we're going to be stuck here for a while," Michelle said to the three at the door, "You guys go ahead and meet up with Isaac and Denise at the bus stop. We'll catch up."

"All right," Hinata nodded, and the two boys joined her while she left.

"...what was your report card's average?" Michelle asked after a moment.

"A well-earned 87.3," Shaun answered with a nod, "You?"

"...72.6," Michelle said glumly, carefully wrapping Shaun's ankle, "Everyone else got a higher average..."

"What about Denise and Isaac?" Shaun asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ok, they got 51.8 and 58.6, respectively, but that hardly counts-"

"Then not everyone else has a higher mark."

_So supportive...so cute..._ Ms. Hamilton thought, arranging the thermometers on her desk.

"...Whatever, Shino-sensei," Michelle mumbled, hiding a small smile.

"Man, I'm hungry..." Kyle put a hand on his grumbling stomach, frowning as their bus reached the subway station, "Think we could get something to eat?"

"Pauline's mom will feed us when we get there," Denise answered, getting off the bus and walking down the station's stairs to where they would wait for a subway train.

"That'll take another 45 minutes!" Kyle exclaimed, then pointed to a newsstand that was within the bus terminal before following down the stairs, "There's a stand right there! I'll buy a chocolate bar; give me a minute!"

"There's the train we need to take," Nat said, pointing when they reached the subway platform, "By the time you buy something, the train will be gone, and we'll have to wait another 20 minutes."

"I'll buy you guys a black cherry soda, or something," Kyle coaxed, mentioning Denise's favourite drink, "Let's go."

"I hate black cherry," Nat said, narrowing his eyes.

"Nat, Hinata, you guys go ahead," Denise said surely, wanting her soda, "We'll meet you at the manga store beside the Korean barbecue place."

"But-" Hinata started to protest.

"Go," Isaac said shortly, pushing both of them into the open doors of the train.

The train doors closed behind them, in perfect timing to when they got inside.

"Bye, guys," Denise smiled, waving at her schoolmates' shocked faces while the train pulled out of the station, "Now, Kyle. Buy me that black cherry soda."

Now Hinata and Nat were left to travel alone together. You can guess where the problems were.

First, there was an extremely long, rather awkward and silent ride on the subway train. Hinata would repeatedly open her mouth and try to start a conversation, but then she would turn bright red, thinking that whatever she was going to say was too stupid, and clam up completely while playing with her fingers. Every ten minutes or so, she would do this, without breaking or altering the cycle in the slightest, not that Nathan noticed; he was busy looking out the window the entire time. One of the other train passengers, however, thought it was cute; that was something.

At a certain point, Nat had been annoyed by the silence and had asked Hinata what her average had been. After hearing that it was a 97.2, he promptly blacked out for the rest of the bus ride. Hinata was a hard worker, and no mistake.

Finally, they got off their stop and needed to find the right streetcar. Nathan jumped out of the subway train enthusiastically, ready for an adventure in Chinatown, while Hinata stepped off onto the platform in her usual graceful, demure way. After looking right and left, Nathan started running towards the streetcars, then stopped abruptly when he realized something, and turned to Hinata with a defeated look.

"I don't know which route we're supposed to take," the blonde-haired boy admitted sheepishly, looking down at his blue sneakers.

Hinata smiled shyly, not wanting to laugh for fear of hurting Nat's feelings, then said patiently, "Um...We can take any route. They all go through Chinatown before branching off."

"...eh?"

Nat looked at the streetcars that were waiting for passengers confusedly for a moment.

_Hey, now that you mention it..._Naruto thought, before breaking out a grin and laughing at himself.

"Oh, yeah!" Nat exclaimed, clapping a hand on Hinata's back, causing her to stumble, "I forgot Denise told us that! You're a lifesaver, Hinata!"

"You'd have figured it out eventually..." Hinata blushed.

"C'mon!" Nat yelled, grabbing Hinata's hand and pulling her towards the nearest car, "Let's go before the others catch up; I want to be the first to get to Pauline's house!"

_...Neither of us know where Pauline lives,_ Hinata thought, shaking her head mentally while she got onto the streetcar, _We made plans with the others to meet at a manga store._

Esperwen: Ok, I'm updating next week! Unless I die before then. Something I learn in Psychology 101: the highest suicide rate is with university/college students. And the most suicidal country is Japan. So, if you're a post-secondary student in Japan, poor you.

Shino: ...that had nothing to do with anything!

Esperwen: Says you. Now reader, kindly review. If you're still reading, at this point. By the way, if you are, thanks for sticking by the Portal series for so long. There are only like 40 of you, and it's seriously something I'm thankful for.


	3. Walking Along and Meeting Some Friends

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, and I'm too tired at this point to type any more...

Esperwen: Ok, I posted a chapter like 5 minutes ago, then realized that it was chapter two. That's very screwed, but that's what happened. I am now angry. My whole apology for posting late was on there too, but then I deleted the chapter first without copying it. I am very angry. I believe I am turning green...HULK-ESPERWEN SMASH!

Kiba: (eye twitch) Uh...awkward.

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**Chapter Three: Walking Along and Meeting Some Friends**

Unfortunately, Hinata and Nat had never gone to Chinatown on their own; Denise and Michelle were the ones that usually led them there. So, as soon as they entered the area downtown that had several Oriental-looking buildings and restaurants, both grade elevens got off the streetcar and walked along the sidewalk, looking for their manga store.

As they walked along the street, Hinata couldn't help but notice that in the windows of some shops, there were blank posters put up; sometimes there were even blank banners. At some of the display tables, where some shopkeepers put out samples of their merchandise, Hinata even saw key-chains or pins without any ornaments on them; simply a blank space. At first, she didn't think anything of it, hoping that maybe she was making a big deal out of nothing.

"Ne...Hinata?" Nat spoke up after a few minutes of searching, "Did you notice some of the white papers in the shop windows?"

"I...yeah," Hinata nodded slowly, "There aren't a lot, but they keep showing up."

"I know," Nat agreed, "I just saw a necklace that didn't even have a pendant on it. And there are blue headbands on sale; just blank blue headbands. Who would pay for that?"

Hinata was startled; she hadn't noticed the headbands. Seeing her facial expression, Nat pointed into the nearest convenience shop, and Hinata saw that he had been telling the truth; there was a set of headbands in the window that were on sale. Thinking for a moment, Hinata realized something else.

"Hey...Nat?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

At once, she felt nervous when the taller boy looked down at her; Nat's blue eyes could be piercing when he had a thoughtful look like that on. Which even Hinata knew was quite rare to happen.

"Yeah?" Nat prompted, not noticing how shy he was making Hinata.

"Um...have you...um..." Hinata stopped for a second, took a deep breath, then tried again, this time doing her best to ignore Nat's eyes, "Sometimes, w-when we pass a few shops, do you, uh, did you ever get that feeling that...that you know...we shouldn't go in?"

"Hey...yeah," Nat nodded, thinking back a little, "I know what you mean. Yeah, sometimes I feel like I shouldn't go into a shop. Bad karma?"

"Maybe..."

Still, Hinata couldn't help but fall behind Nat slightly, as if hiding from certain shops; neither of them took note of the fact that Nat was also standing a little bit straighter, and watching the shop windows a little bit harder, as if he were in charge of protecting Hinata. However, one girl eating in one of Chinatown's restaurants looked out the window and saw two teens that gave her an inexplicable urge to draw a NarutoXHinata doujinshi.

"...Do you see that manga shop Denise was talking about, anywhere?" Nathan asked, after more tense walking.

"No..."

Hinata looked carefully at the name of one store, then shook her head and looked along the rest of the street. Nat sighed impatiently; neither of them remembered Chinatown being this big.

_This is weird..._Nat thought, _I thought we'd fine the shop right away. ...Hey! Maybe it's genjutsu?_

Just then, both former ninja heard a crash from somewhere up ahead.

"I KNEW IT!" Nat yelled triumphantly, "THEY'RE OUT TO ATTACK US!"

_...What?_ Hinata thought confusedly.

Before she even finished her thought, Nat took off at a run towards where the sound was originating from. Now that Hinata was listening, she seemed to hear sounds of a fight; as soon as she got around the corner into that alleyway, she saw why: two men were attacking a third.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Nat exclaimed, rushing to help the third man.

He was a teenager, Hinata noticed, between glancing at the fight and looking around for help; actually, now that she was examining him, she guessed he was maybe a year younger than she was, but very tall. Above-average height, sun-tanned skin, short, wavy brown hair...Hinata blinked when she caught a glimpse of his face, then started walking towards him to help. Something familiar was about him. One mugger was holding him from behind, while the second pulled out a knife from somewhere in his boot; Nat yelled and tackled the knife-weilder, while Hinata quickly rushed forward. But there wasn't any need.

The stranger jerked his body violently, and somehow managed to break out of his captor's hold. Spinning on his heel, he punched the man in the gut solidly, then turned to help Nat; Hinata kicked the first man back down when he tried to get up. Nat was pinned down by the shoulders and was about to be cut by the second fighter's blade; young man hauled the enemy up by the back of his shirt and angrily threw him against the alley wall, where he slid down to the ground, stunned.

"Aw, shit...damn muggers..."

The young man grumbled a few more colourful words under his breath, then took from the second enemy's hand a brown wallet.

"I'm not stealing," the stranger informed the other teens; Hinata was helping Nat up when he said this, "This is my wallet. They were trying to take it."

"Oh," Hinata nodded.

"We guessed something like that," Nat nodded avidly.

"Uh...thanks for the help, though," the stranger added, scratching the side of his head with a slight smile; Hinata thought just for a second that the stranger looked a lot like Chad from Bleach.

"No problem!" Nat grinned, holding out his hand for the stranger to shake, "My name's Nat Makizu. I'm going to be in the Olympics, so helping you was like training!"

"Hey," the young man grinned back; Hinata knew she saw him somewhere, but she still couldn't place his face, "My name's Daniel Fridland."

_That's it!_ Hinata thought, a lightbulb turning on in her head.

"You're from our school!" Hinata exclaimed incredulously, pointing in shock.

"He is?" Nat asked, looking at Daniel closely, and not realizing that Hinata was unintentionally doing one of his own, patented confused poses.

"Wha..." Daniel stared at Hinata for a moment, then slapped a palm to his forehead, "Of course! You're name's...Hinata, right? Denise introduced me to you, once. But that was like months ago; I don't hang around her, Michelle and everyone anymore. Not since..."

He stopped talking, as if remembering something unpleasant, rolled his eyes, then sighed heavily.

"What's wrong with you?" Nat asked, completely tactless.

Instead of an answer, the sound of garbage cans rattling filled the air. Hinata, Nat and Daniel looked to where the sound originated from, and saw a girl climb out from her hiding place behind a cardboard box and a few garbage cans. When she stood up, Hinata recognized her vaguely too; Michelle had pointed the girl out from a distance while they were in school, once. However, all she remembered was that the girl was Daniel's age (grade 10), sensitive about how she was slightly below average height, and was a bit spoiled. Michelle could deal with this little setback, but everyone else could not.

"Linda, are you ok?" Daniel asked, gently picking a bit of eggshell from the girl's black hair.

_Aw, that's so cute..._Hinata thought, _Michelle also said that they were dating._

_Ugh...they're one of those 'lovey-dovey' couples, aren't they?_ Nat thought, suddenly thinking that Daniel was no longer so cool, even with his fighting skills.

"I'm fine!" Linda yelled in response, completely shocking Hinata and Nat with an unusually loud, shrill voice.

Deftly, Linda kicked Daniel right into the shin, causing him to kneel down and nurse a leg that now had a perfectly footprint-shaped bruise. Quickly, Linda grabbed a duffel bag that had been stored in her hiding place, and hit Daniel's face with it none-too-gently.

"You think that just because I'm a girl, I'll get hurt simply sitting there?" Linda yelled down at Daniel, causing a few twitches of pain, simply using her voice.

"Ok, that wasn't what I meant," Daniel said, venturing to raise his head.

"Like hell it wasn't!" Linda screamed, hitting Daniel upside with her bag, making him curl up defensively, "Don't think I don't know what you mean!"

_No, I was seriously checking to see if you were ok,_ Daniel thought, but still, he waited until Linda was distracted by someone else before he got up.

"Oh...hi!" Linda said, suddenly in a normal voice, and she held her hand out for Hinata to shake, "My name's Linda Grey. I think I've seen you hanging around Michelle lately. Am I right, Daniel?"

Linda looked smilingly at Daniel, who was being helped up to his feet by Nat.

"Yeah, that's right, Linda," Daniel answered, but Linda wasn't listening anymore.

"I'm sorry for you, man," Nat whispered, when Linda's attention was back on Hinata, "Seriously."

"Don't be," Daniel shrugged, brushing dirt from his jeans' knees, "She's only like this around other people. Most of the time. Typically. Sometimes. I like to think."

_...this guy..._Nat thought, sweatdropping.

Something at the beginning of the alleyway caught Daniel's eye, and Nat turned to follow his gaze. Hinata and Linda were talking to Michelle, Pauline and Denise; Isaac, Shaun and Kyle were walking towards Nat and Daniel silently.

"You finally caught up," Nat grinned at Kyle arrogantly, "I was wondering where you guys were."

"Idiot," Kyle rolled his eyes, "We were all waiting at the manga store for you and Hinata. We thought you got lost."

"Yeah, we kinda got distracted," Nat shrugged.

"Who is this?" Isaac asked, nodding towards Daniel suspiciously.

"My name's Daniel," the teen said, waving to Isaac, "I go to your school. I helped you spray paint our Civics' teacher's car, remember?"

"Hn," Isaac nodded his recognition, with a slight smile.

_...he isn't denying it,_ Shaun thought, only mildly irritated; he didn't like that teacher either.

_The whole school's been dying to know who did that!_ Nat thought, looking between both teens with something close to hero worship, _Aw, I wish I helped!_

_I wonder what the girls are up to,_ Kyle thought, seeing Denise and Michelle in what seemed to be an argument, if waving arms were any indication, _Pauline, Hinata and...some random chick are just watching Denise and Michelle talk. Wait, now Pauline's talking to the random chick._

"No!" Denise whisper-yelled, trying to keep from flying out and strangling someone; she hadn't decided between Michelle or Linda, but she was edging towards Linda anyway, "I swear!"

Both girls were trying to keep their argument quiet, so that the others (specifically Linda) couldn't hear what they were saying. Both were friends with Linda. Both knew that she had some cool moments. But both knew that most of the time...

"She can be so annoying!" Denise exclaimed, still whispering, but waving her arms expressively, "Don't let her come to the sleepover! Please! I'm begging you!"

"Maybe she'll be having a sociable, lovable day," Michelle argued, not wanting to leave Linda out.

The half-Irish, half-Korean girl in question stood patiently with Pauline and Hinata, waiting for Michelle and Denise's decision. Apparently, Linda had overheard one of Michelle and Denise's conversations in the hallway, when they had been planning the weekend sleepover. So, here was Linda now, with a dufflebag full of extra clothes and necessities, asking to be invited at the last moment. This was actually a really good tactic, since Michelle was partly in charge; if they said no, Michelle would feel guilty about it for the whole weekend, thus ruining the sleepover, and Linda wouldn't have missed anything good.

"When was the last time she was cool?" Denise snapped, "When she drew that Tsubasa doujinshi for us last summer. ...it's almost summer now! That's a year ago!"

"Then she's due to be cool again!"

"Honestly, you have way too much patience with her! There's a reason rumours are going around school that you're her mom!"

"Hey, everyone in school thinks I'm everyone's mom at one point or another. And her mom has no idea how to take care of her. Someone needs to step in!"

"All the same, would you take your kid to every party you go to?"

"You're the party-animal in this friendship, raver. Not me."

"...Don't let her come! You pushover!"

"She's already miles from home. Think about bus fare that she's wasted."

"Her rich father gave her a metro pass! She can go wherever she wants in the city, as many times as she likes, on as many buses as she can find, for the _entire month_!"

"Still, I don't want to completely brush her off."

"I'll do it! Or I'll get Isaac to scare her off."

"She told you she knew that the guys are leaving when it gets dark out. That's plenty of time for her to hide in a closet until the sleepover. Or, if she gets scared off, she'll leave now and then come back later."

"She doesn't know where Pauline lives. That'll be ok! She'd never find us!"

"Yeah, but Daniel's a boyscout like that. And he knows a lot of people in this neighbourhood. He'd probably be able to track us down for Linda."

"Yeah, and he'd do it, too. Man...what a waste. He's cute, but he's stuck with Linda."

"Denise..."

"Hey, what if we let Pauline decide? They only met today, and if Pauline makes her leave, it'll be because she hardly knows Linda."

"...Fine. We'll try it."

Quickly replacing their angry faces with happy ones, Denise and Michelle simultaneously jumped in front of the other three girls, smiling 100-watt smiles.

"It's up to you if Linda comes, Pauline!" Michelle grinned, tilting her head to one side.

"After all, it's your house!" Denise said cheerily, tilting her head to the opposite side.

_...they look like yin and yang,_ Hinata thought, smiling slightly, _Mirrored poses, one is dark, the other is light, Michelle has sleeves, Denise doesn't...one is a healer, the other is a killer...but in a good way._

"Then...okay!" Pauline laughed, throwing her arms around Linda in a hug, "While you two were talking, I found out that Linda and I have the same birthday! It's like we're twins, 'cuz we're both in grade 10! Isn't that cool? It's like we're soul-mates, only without marriage!"

"...great!" Denise smiled, looking like her face was going to break, before rushing off to take comfort in Isaac's arms.

"Then let's go!" Michelle grinned, her smile barely slipping, but as she turned around to lead the way, her face had a tired look.

_Why am I the only one that argues for Linda, now?_ Michelle thought, _Now I've got to act like her bodyguard...Denise looks so angry..._

_

* * *

_Esperwen: Ok, I posted! I AM SORRY FOR THE WAIT! I SERIOUSLY MEANT TO POST EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON! GOMEN NASAI!

Itachi: You lie, cretin.

Esperwen: NO, I MEAN IT! I'M SORRY! SUMIMASIN KUDASAI!

Itachi: As polite as that last apology was, I do not accept.

Esperwen: Oh, come on!

Itachi: For the lie, you must lose your thumbs. (pulls out katana)

Esperwen: ...WHAT?!

Michiko: (appears) You can't do that! Ifyoucutoffherthumbsthenshewon'tbeabletohitthespacebarandthenshewon'tbeabletoproperlytypeandthatmeansthatherdisclaimersheadnotesfootnotesandchaptertitleswon'tshowupproperlyandeverythingthatshetypeswilllooklikethisandthen-

Itachi: Silence.

Michiko: (puppy eyes) But can't you just let her keep her thumbs.

Itachi: I'm not cutting them off. I planned on bruising her thumbs with my katana's hilt.

Michiko: Oh.

Esperwen: But...I still wouldn't be able to type properly, and if I can't, I won't post. If that happens, then you won't show up in my world anymore, and you'll have to wait for the anime to get to the part where you meet Sasuke.

Itachi: Curses. My only true weakness: my lack of appearances. (put katana away, starts leaving) Foiled by a writer.

Esperwen: Oh, this is the perfect time for the quote, "The pen is mightier than the sword"!

Michiko: ...

Esperwen: Not cool or witty enough?

Michiko: Definitely not. You must have lost like 5 readers right there.

Esperwen: This is bad...

Michiko: Ok, reader, enough of this. Please review! It makes me happy!

Esperwen: What about flames?

Michiko: Well, at least flames show that the reader is paying attention.

Esperwen: This is true...


	4. Gangster Nita?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places, or themes affiliated, the fetal position, Rock-Paper-Scissors, a cool aunt, walkie-talkie conversations, really corny code names, and incorrect predictions.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Gangster Nita?**

_Get me out of this house!_ Denise thought, rocking back and forth in the fetal position on her sleeping bag.

Monday morning was a day that all the portal-users looked forward to.

_The day has almost started...hurry up, sunrise!_ Michelle begged, her nose pressed to the window, watching the eastern sky.

Only, to the girls, today was hoped for not because they could go home, in Hinata's case, nor that they all could continue on with their ninja lives.

_PLEASE!_ Pauline thought, half-crying while she brushed her teeth that morning, _I WANT TO LEEEEAVE!_

It was because they could get away from Linda. Hinata, Pauline, Denise and even Michelle were regretting inviting Linda to the sleepover. Though talking nonstop was one of Pauline's specialties, and though Hinata liked listening to people talking, and though Michelle and Denise could usually hold their own when someone refused to finish whatever speech they were making, a weekend sleepover with Linda was too much.

_Did she _have_ to go over her life story?_ Hinata thought, repacking her backpack for the third time, _Did she _have_ to keep pointing out how poor we all are?_

Let's just say, Linda needed better people skills.

Abruptly, the radio alarm on Pauline's nightstand went off, blaring that it was a beautiful, sunny day at 6:45am, and they would be enjoying a 70 percent chance of rain that day. Immediately, Linda rolled over and slammed her hand on the snooze button.

"I don' wanna gettup..." Linda moaned, before promptly falling asleep again.

Denise stood up and glared at Linda angrily before kicking her sleeping bag and packing it up properly.

"How come _she_ got the bed?" Denise growled at Michelle, who was rolling up the sleeping bag beside her, "Why didn't we just go with the 'Rock-Paper-Scissors' tournament that we always do?"

"She cried when she lost during the first round, remember?" Michelle answered, stifling a yawn, "She's so cute when she cries..."

"You shouldn't have gotten up for her all of those times, last night," Hinata reproved, shaking her head slightly.

"Oh...you saw that?"

"She woke you up three times for a glass of water, and once to go to the bathroom," Hinata answered, counting on her fingers.

"The bathroom's right there!" Denise snapped, pointing to the door right across from Pauline's room, "She's not a frigging 5-year-old!"

"Then why are we all whispering?" Pauline asked, tiptoeing back into the room, done with brushing her teeth.

"..." Denise had no answer to that; Linda was a spoiled, annoying, _cute,_ rich kid, and she used all that to her advantage.

"Good morning, girls!" Pauline's mother said cheerily, in a loud voice, poking her head through Pauline's bedroom doorway, "Time for you to get up! You'll be late for school!"

"Good morning, Tita," Michelle smiled, hurrying to hug her aunt.

"Ano...good morning, Mrs. Mariano," Hinata greeted, while Denise nodded serenely in the background.

"Mom, can you wake Linda up?" Pauline asked, with her best puppy-dog eyes, "Everyone's ready for breakfast but her."

"Huh?" the middle-aged woman looked over at the girl on the bed, then shook her head slightly, "You young people. You're so lazy!"

"Mom, I'm awake already!" Pauline said indignantly.

"What my aunt really means is she'll help us out of the goodness of her heart," Michelle whispered to the other two girls, "You learn to read between the lines."

"Thank you, Mrs. Mariano," Hinata smiled, and she took Pauline by the arm while Michelle led them out of the room.

"Will your mom really be able to handle Linda?" Denise asked, in whispered tones, so that the woman couldn't hear, "She's a nice lady, and all, but she's a bit of a pushover, too. I mean, she let an extra person stay over at last moment."

"You don't know Tita Neets," Michelle said, with a grin, making a few gangster handsigns, "My aunt is gangster."

"Not really gangster," Pauline said, rolling her eyes a little, "She just...wasn't ladylike when she was a kid. She used to beat up people if they teased her sister."

"You serious?" Denise blinked. An aunt that beat up people could be cool.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

Looking back, the four girls in the hallway saw Linda run into the bathroom and lock the door behind her. But just before she got out of sight, Denise noticed purple markings on Linda's arm that looked like she had just been pinched at least five times.

"Abuse! I'm suing for abuse!" Linda shrieked, from her hiding place in the bathroom.

"Yeah, yeah," Aunt Nita rolled her eyes, "You just get ready for school, or I'll tell your parents you tried to skip your classes today."

"...Your mom is _cool_," Denise grinned, earning a smile from Pauline.

"Don't you think that was too much, Mrs. Mariano?" Hinata asked, when Nita caught up to the four teens; after all, Linda was bruised.

"Hey, she'll survive it. Besides, she said my house was too small and poor for her all weekend. This was my revenge."

"Your mom is _really_ cool," Denise laughed, clapping Pauline on the back.

Less than two hours later...

"Fire Storm to White Eyes, do you copy? Over."

"White Eyes to Fire Storm, roger that, over."

"Fire Storm to White Eyes, are you in position? Over."

"White Eyes to Fire Storm, ten-four, over."

"Fire Storm to White Eyes, remain at ease, over and out. Fire Storm to Bloodbath, do you copy? Over."

"Bloodbath to Fire Storm, roger that. I am in position and thirsting for battle, over."

Translation: she was still angry about the sleepover.

"Fire Storm to Bloodbath, hold your fire and remain at ease. Over and out. Fire Storm to Orihime, do you copy? Over."

"Orihime copies. Orihime is in position. Over. At the target's destination. To Fire Storm. Over."

"...Fire Storm to Orohime, negative copy, please repeat, over."

"Orihime to Fire Storm, I'm in position...no, I'm at the target's destination. Yes. Over."

"Bloodbath to Orihime, you suck at this walkie-talkie stuff, do you copy? Over."

"Hey, at least my mom is cool, Bloodbath!"

"Bloodbath to Orihime, she's the only one in the family who is, over."

"Hey!"

"Fire Storm to Bloodbath and Orihime, cease and desist all friendly fire. Do you copy? Over."

There was some radio silence for a minute.

"...Bloodbath to Fire Storm, copy that, over and out."

"..._Fine._ Orihime to Fire Storm, copy that, over and out."

Fire Storm, a.k.a. Michelle, yawned where she stood at her place near her aunt's house, where the sleepover had taken place. Orihime, or Pauline, was stationed near a certain streetcar stop, and Bloodbath, who was naturally Denise, and White Eyed Hinata kept the job of following and watching Linda.

None of the portal-users wanted anyone to know about their way into Naruto's world, believing that if too many people got through, things could be warped between worlds; none of the travellers wanted anything to go wrong in their optional dimension. This was why none of them had invited people to see the greenhouse. Denise and Michelle knew plenty other people who were just as obsessed with Naruto as they were, if not more, and who would be very careful about not disrupting Naruto's storyline, but just the same, they didn't tell anybody. Maybe there was just a little bit of selfishness mixed up in there somewhere, too, but it was better not to take any chances.

Especially with Linda. She was a nice enough girl, when she opened her eyes and tried; her unkindness was more from lack of tact, poor judgment, and too much naivete. She, too, was interested in Naruto's manga and anime, but only from an outsider's point of view; she liked playing around with yaoi pairings, solely because they looked cute (like with Naruto and Haku), and completely ignoring whether things would actually work out, or not. The portal-users did not know what would happen if she ever came into Naruto's world, but they did know that few good things could happen. The last thing they needed was a random teenager running around in Konoha, trying to set Kakashi up on a date with Iruka.

"White Eyes to Fire Storm," Michelle's walkie-talkie suddenly buzzed, "Do you copy? Over."

"Fire Storm to White Eyes, roger that. What's the sitch? Over."

"White Eyes to Fire Storm, target had entered public transportation vehicle, I repeat, target had entered public transportation vehicle, over."

Linda had gotten onto a streetcar and was headed towards home. The other four girls knew that she needed to leave for an archery club meeting before school started, which was why she had left alone.

"Fire Storm to White Eyes, copy that. Fire Storm to White Eyes, Bloodbath and Orihime. Phase one of 'Return Home' is complete. Commence Phase two. Move into position, inform, then stand by for signal. Over and out."

Michelle turned volume knob on her walkie-talkie to low, then pressed herself against the wooden fence she stood by, and discreetly looked around the corner, towards Pauline's house. Her aunt was locking the front door of the small, one-floor bungalow. Silently, Michelle watched as her aunt walked down the street, the opposite direction of where Michelle was.

"White Eyes to Fire Storm, do you copy, over?"

"Fire Storm to White Eyes, read you loud and clear, over."

"White Eyes to Fire Storm, I have rendezvoused with Orihime and secured my position for Phase Two, over."

"Fire Storm to White Eyes, copy that, over and out."

When her aunt turned a corner, Michelle quickly stealth-ran to the corner, and hid behind a few trash cans, watching as her aunt reached the nearby bus stop. Three more minutes passed; Denise was supposed to have radioed Michelle, by now.

"Fire Storm to Bloodbath, I have secured my position by Gangster's ride and am awaiting back-up, over."

"Bloodbath to Fire Storm, I am in position. Apologies for the delay, had to dodge a few land mines. Over."

What Denise meant, was that she had to walk across an area that could make a lot of sound if she wasn't careful; she had slowed down to keep from making noise or alerting Aunt Nita's attention. Perhaps they were being a little extreme with trying not to get detected by Pauline's mother, but it was better safe than sorry, and Nita would no doubt be very angry if she learned that two of her daughter's friends, and her niece, were all skipping school.

"Fire Storm to Bloodbath, roger that, over and out."

After about a 10-minute wait, a bus came, and Michelle watched as her aunt stepped onto the vehicle and paid her fare. The bus pulled away from the curb, and Michelle breathed a sigh of relief. Her aunt had finally left for work.

"Fire Storm to all kunoichi, the Gangster has left the hizzle, Phase Two is complete. I repeat, Phase Two is complete. Mission accomplished. Leave all positions and return to the hizzle. Over and out."

"I still can't believe I agreed to calling your aunt's house the 'hizzle'," Denise groaned, coming out of her hiding place near Michelle.

"Fo' shizzle," Michelle laughed, and nodded down the street to where Hinata and Pauline were running from, "_They _thought it was funny."

"It's dumb," Denise rolled her eyes, then laughed too, "Well. It's only just past 7:30, now."

"Can we watch that movie, now?" Pauline asked, catching up, "The guys won't be here until 10:30."

"It's the Bleach movie," Hinata nodded avidly, collecting the walkie-talkies that the four girls had been using, and handing them back to Denise, "I've been wanting to see it for a while, now."

"Let's go," Michelle nodded, starting to walk towards Pauline's house, "Phew. I can't wait to get back to Konoha. It's less stressful there."

If only she knew.

* * *

Esperwen: And I have posted. And this time, it was promptly. So, I have won.

Kiba: How come there are no guys, here?

Corey: Denise is kind of a guy.

Denise: (punches Corey)

Corey: ...something poked me.

Denise: ...

Esperwen: Uh...I'll ignore that. So, please review, reader!


	5. They Have Come

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, trouble with ninjutsu and peripheral vision, a family moment, and I don't wanna type anymore. It's almost midnight, and I'm sleepy. And I want to read the 'Sailor Moon' manga. I just downloaded ALL of it today...!

* * *

**Chapter Five: They Have Come**

Michiko found herself stepping out from the greenhouse, into her room in Konoha; once again she was on Inuzuka property. Though less than five months had passed in the city, just a bit under seven months had passed in Konoha. The differences in time were staggering, but still possible; they didn't always skip school to switch worlds every Monday, since people in their home world might start asking questions, but they had still used their week of spring break to their advantage.

She had been getting braver with her 'suicides' to get back to the real world; lately, she'd been using her dagger instead of falling off of balconies. This change was part necessity, too, now that she lived with the Inuzuka. Since most of the building was ground-level, she couldn't always find a high vantage point to throw herself off of.

Looking out her window, she saw Kiba and the five dogs sneaking along the Inuzuka property; the original Konoha ninja had the slightly more difficult job of using a tree-portal in one of the training grounds. Every time he suicided in the city, he would disappear and end up back in his tree portal, just like how Michiko would always end up in the greenhouse. Tiptoeing, Michiko snuck through the hallway, to Kiba's room, and sat on his bed, waiting for him; in a few minutes, he climbed through his window and flopped onto the floor, the five dogs right behind him.

"How do you do that whole 'suicide' thing?" Kiba asked, sitting crosslegged on the floor, "It's so hard just to make myself jump off..."

"I know what you mean," Michiko grinned, then sighed, "Don't worry. After doing it 100 times, it gets easier."

Kiba looked up at his sister incredulously, then tugged on the two locks that she'd cut into her hair; just a finger's length wide, Michiko had cut two bangs that reached to her chin, to frame her face when she tied her hair up. Lately, her medical training had gotten more involved, and she needed to make sure her long, waist-length black hair was out of the way; she looked older than she liked when her hair was up, so the two forelocks helped solve that problem.

"You're going back to Suna next week," Kiba said, somewhat unhappily.

Michiko looked down at her adoptive brother and poked his forehead cheekily. She couldn't help but notice that he was changing his look, too. Lately, he hadn't been wearing his parka; when asked, he said that it was getting in the way of his training. Sakon had used Kiba's own coat against him, by using it to hide his scent, so getting rid of the coat would prevent a future enemy from doing the same. Kiba also wanted peripheral vision like Michiko's, and she knew it; without the parka, there was no hood to narrow his vision.

Michiko wanted his dog techniques just as badly, but her bloodline limit prevented her from learning them very quickly. Her Elemental Change abilities prevented clan members from being able to mold chakra for ninjutsu. Michiko may be able to use medical jutsu, but it took her three times as long to learn a new technique, as compared to Sakura. The same was true with the special Inuzuka techniques; Michiko had only recently been able to use the Piercing Fang technique with her four dogs, whereas Kiba was learning more complex techniques. Perhaps it was fair that way; both of them were having trouble with training the specific attributes that they admired in their sibling.

"Nice to know you'll miss me, onii-chan," Michiko grinned, "I'll be fine."

Kiba smirked slightly, but the smile fell a little and he looked down at Akamaru for a moment.

"...What's up?" Michiko asked, poking her brother with her foot.

Athos sat down beside her, and she grabbed him into a welcoming hug; the wolfish dog was still growing, but not as quickly as before. D'Artagnan sat by Akamaru, like the older dog's clone, but slightly younger and grey instead, and fox-like Aramis jumped to settle onto his usual vantage point, Michiko's shoulders. Porthos was no-where to be seen; Michiko guessed that the multicoloured St. Bernard/bear-type dog had snuck away to find his best friend, Saneijin; the small boy was staying with Gaara at a hotel for the night. When they visited Konoha for three months at a time, sometimes he stayed with Michiko, other times with Gaara; either place, Saneijin was safe. But Kiba wasn't thinking about Michiko's dog pack or Saneijin.

"...It's you and Shino," Kiba answered, mumbling slightly, still not looking up, "Is...everything all right between you guys?"

"Sure," Michiko nodded, speaking too quickly, "Of course. I mean, we're not dating in this world, so there's nothing wrong. Why? Why do you ask? Does it seem like anything's wrong? Because everything's just great. Totally. Everything is just-"

"Michi-chan."

The girl stopped speaking, and looked down at her skeptical brother.

"Don't lie to me," Kiba said bluntly.

_Oh, great. He's pulling out the 'concerned brother' card,_ Michiko thought, slouching a little.

"You two are freaked out, aren't you?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow, "Remember before, when Shino would just make sure that your arms were touching, or something? Explain to me again why he did that."

"Kiba..."

"Explain, you!"

Michiko glared at her brother, then sighed. It wasn't as if she didn't like why Shino had acted that way; it was just sort of embarrassing. Especially since Kiba was her brother; he still teased her about it, every now and then. Or...most of the time. Every chance he got, now that she was thinking about it.

"He...remembered how things were when I was avoiding him...so that whole contact thing was just his way of..._assuring_ himself that I was still nearby..." _That he hadn't lost me...Aw...my poor Shino..._

"See, that's just dumb," Kiba said, again without any tact, crossing his arms and determined to have his say, "He should know by now that the only reason that whole 'avoiding' thing happened, was because of some misunderstanding. And that was way back when it was just before Christmas."

"Ok, in our defense, you of all people should know by now that it's really difficult to communicate with an Aburame," Michiko argued, "Half the time, it's just hints or nods. Honestly, sometimes it feels like emotional surgery; one wrong move, and the whole operation fails."

Kiba gave Michiko one of his looks; Michiko sighed. He wasn't in a listening mood. He wanted to have his say and be done with it; one of those macho, boy things, she guessed.

"Moving right along," Kiba continued, "Things were fine until that whole engagement and suitor thing was announced. Now, when I see you two walking, if it's in this world he's always hovering over your shoulder, and in the city, you're always holding hands like someone's gonna pop out of an alleyway and kidnap one of you. What's with that?"

"Is there a problem?"

"It starts with holding hands, and then, before you know it, Saneijin gets a new baby brother."

"Kiba!"

"Hey, I've seen a few moments when it's just Shino and you. He's a completely different guy. It's like he has emotions, or something."

"Oh, please...And I suppose everything with you and Pooriin is completely friendly and nothing more?"

"Well, yes, actually. Mainly because both our parents made us promise. I know, I know!" Kiba laughed, when Michiko gave him a scandalised look and punched him, "We're only 13. I get it. What kind of a person do you think I am?"

"Do I really have to answer that question?"

Kiba pinched Michiko's arm hard enough to make her yelp, then continued on.

"And you always jump whenever someone taps you on the shoulder, now. Why?"

"Well, considering that the engagement can go official any day now-"

"But it isn't official _yet_. That's the difference. Stop acting so scared and just...I dunno...try to get a nomination to become one of the many suitors to the Aburame clan's heir. Try to be glad that you have this chance, now, y'know?"

Michiko winced, then shot an angry look at Kiba.

"How can you do that?" she exclaimed, before remembering it was still late at night, and kept her voice down again, "How can you and Pooriin just pretend that nothing's wrong?"

"Because nothing _is_ wrong," Kiba protested, "Not yet. Rini-chan's still mine, and Shino's still yours. For whatever reason. ...Yeesh. You're pretty enough that you could have any guy, but..._Shino_?"

"Kiba..."

"..." Kiba smirked slightly, rolling his eyes, "...Just...if you two need anything, I'm here for you. Me, Hana, and mom...we all are. We're family now, remember?"

"Of course..."

Michiko hugged Athos harder for a second, then fell on her knees and embraced Kiba. She buried her face in the front of his shirt; Kiba couldn't make out any words, but she was whimpering pretty badly.

"I know..." Kiba said softly, putting a hand on Michiko's head, "...I know."

"Oh...Lemme go!" Michiko whined, jerking away from Kiba and forgetting that she was the one that hugged him, "You're not that much older than me; why do you have to be such an aniki?!"

"Says the 13-year-old mom," Kiba grinned, shaking his head while Michiko stomped out of his room; he still managed to catch the glimpse of a smile before Michiko turned her back to him.

Aw...heart Kiba...

Deniizu woke up on the Academy's roof, and yawned openly. Looking up, she saw that the sun had already risen, and was climbing in the sky; she was late for her team's meeting, again. The former Yasusora clan member stretched in a leisurely manner, knowing that her team would forgive her tardiness. Her uniform still had her grey, Chinese shirt, but she had switched her short grey pants for black cargo pants; she was following Firu's lead with carrying multiple weapons, and unlike Tenten, she didn't have the patience to learn to use summoning techniques and scrolls to pack away her ninja tools.

_Ugh...even just one month back in Konoha is too long,_ Deniise thought, sitting up and scratching her head tiredly, _If it weren't for that chuunin exam or Korii and Michiko, I wouldn't be here. Meh...two more weeks and it's back on the road with Itachi._

Without another thought, she jumped down from the roof and headed out towards her team's training field. One more day for her to do those inane missions.

"Ah, Deniizu," Inel nodded to his student when she entered the field; Korii and Michiko were already there, "Normal times, I no mind when you are late; I am mostly late too. But today, I come on time."

"Why, what's up?" Deniizu asked, adjusting her weapons pouch as she spoke, "Some kind of birthday, or something?"

Michiko, from her place sitting on the ground, as well as her four dogs looked up at her teacher expectantly. Korii, while leaning against a tree, cut his eyes from Deniizu to Inel; for Korii, this was intense staring.

"I had been thinking that perhaps Korii should be doing these explaining," Inel answered, looking pointedly at his oldest pupil.

The white-eyed boy stared back for a moment, then sighed and stood up properly. Though Korii had been raised to chuunin rank just a few weeks before, he had opted against wearing the green flak vest and chose to still wear his traditional black Hyuuga branch house robes; he hadn't changed his looks in the slightest, just like his teacher, who still wore his Sound ninja uniform. Hands on his waist, Korii cleared his throat and began to explain why things were different this morning.

"Ok, you remember how after our first mission, things got kind of screwed when we were coming back here from the Thyme Village?" Korii asked, looking at Deniizu and Michiko.

"...'screwed'?" Michiko asked, looking at her teammate blankly.

"Other than when Kiba almost strangled Bikto at one point, I can't think of anything weird happening," Deniizu added, with a shrug, "Well, maybe not one point. More like five times."

Korii closed his eyes tight, touched his forehead protector in annoyance, sighed heavily, then tried again.

"I'll give you a hint," Korii said impatiently, "He's tall, carries a lot of weapons, and is related by blood to Michiko."

"...Oh, yeah!" both girls exclaimed at the same time; Korii could almost see lightbulbs pop on over their heads.

"That was when Phil first came into this world!" Deniizu remembered, with a smile.

"But...does that mean that someone else came through?" Michiko asked excitedly, jumping up to her feet.

"Yes..." Inel nodded slowly, looking at his feet.

The girls looked at their teacher and team member, not sure what to think; neither of their older mentors looked very happy.

"Ok..." Michiko thought for a second, then winced and asked sullenly, "Is it Mika?"

"Not Mika," Inel shook his head.

Michiko barely suppressed a sigh of relief; she knew that Mika was after Shaun. She also knew Shino wanted nothing to do with Mika, but just the same, her friendship with Mika Patricks was strained because of this little bit of information.

"Then..." Deniizu looked up thoughtfully, then directed a glare at her teacher, "Is it Katie?"

Katie was in the same grade as Denise, and enjoyed poking fun and being obnoxious towards the Romanian girl. Before, only people with death wishes would do this, but ever since they had met in high school, Michelle kept Denise from committing brutality against other students. Normally, Isaac would do the beating in Denise's place, but Michelle had talked Denise into preventing him from doing that, too. So, Katie's life was spared. Or, at least until Michelle graduated.

"Who is these Katie?" Inel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Whew," Deniizu smiled slightly, "If you don't know her, then you wouldn't have realized that someone came through the portal, so we're ok."

"I'll give you some more hints," Korii said in a flat tone, "With respect to Deniizu, six o'clock."

Deniizu turned quickly to look behind her, and Michiko followed Korii's gaze. The black-haired girl promptly went pale; the other reached into her pouch for killing weapons.

"Deniizu, do not," Inel ordered, putting a hand on her wrist to prevent her from pulling out a kunai.

"Where's my Shino? He can scare her off! I want my Saneijin and Gaara," Michiko whimpered, "I wanna go back home! Hey, how come Denise and I didn't realize they came through?"

"Is good question," Inel nodded, "Why you no realize Phil has come through the portal, too?"

"Maybe because sensei and I are dudes," Korii guessed after a moment of thought.

"What a dumb reason..." Deniizu grumbled, really wishing there weren't any newcomers anymore.

Two ninja were approaching Team 13. One was a girl, and one was a boy; both were about Korii's age. And both were familiar to all of the team.

"Try running. As in, right now," Korii suggested encouragingly, "She may be a jounin, but only because of dumb luck, or only when she really has to. She seems like a really smart person around the ninja judges, but in reality, her observation skills are next to nothing."

"KORII? IS THAT YOU?" the girl screeched, close enough that she only needed to raise her voice, but still choosing to scream her message.

"Crap, she saw me," Korii muttered, covering his face with one hand.

"She is no so stupid," Inel rolled his eyes, "Give her more credit. She really can fight well."

_It's just that the rest of the time, she's a total moron,_ Korii thought, but he kept it to himself.

Michiko sighed, wiped away a small tear of frustration, and got up. Athos nudged her hand encouragingly, and she smiled gratefully; without her dogs, she felt that she might go out of control.

"Hey, we know you!" the boy exclaimed, pointing at the group.

"Mishelly!" Linda squealed, running forward and hugging Michelle excitedly, "You're here too! I saw your name on the greenhouse tree!"

"Woot..." Michiko cheered, trying to get happy and not really succeeding, "What's up, Daniel?" _And why'd you have to follow us into our inner sanctum, you whipped...no, I won't think it._

"It's Yasha Daneiru to you," the boy grinned, with a friendly thumb's up, "Chuunin-level and still getting stronger!"

"Yeah, well I'm a jounin, so I beat you!" Linda laughed, kicking him hard in the shin, "And...oh, yeah. My name's changed to Satoki Rinde. Don't forget."

"How'd you become a jounin?" Michiko asked bluntly, somehow managing to sound bored, rather than obnoxious.

"She fought against a jounin this _one_ time," Korii explained, "And when some other jounin saw her fight, they referred her to the Hokage, since they thought that she was strong enough to be a jounin herself. It's dumb luck, I'm telling you!"

"What?" Rinde glared at Korii, "I earned becoming a jounin! It wasn't luck."

Korii glared right back, and Rinde quailed.

"Mishelly, Corey's scaring me," Rinde whimpered, reaching for Michiko's arm, then when she looked at Michiko directly, "HA! YOU'RE SHORTER THAN ME FOR ONCE!"

_Why didn't you kill her while she was on your team?_ Deniizu asked Korii privately, _Didn't you get a lot of chances?_

_Yeah, but Inel was always watching me,_ Korii answered, _He knew I'd try to do something like that. She's his neice, you know.

* * *

_

Esperwen: I failed to post the chapter yesterday, so I come to you in the dead of night, posting a day late.

Shino: Why didn't you post when you were supposed to?

Esperwen: ...I wanted to play 'Hotel Dusk' on my big brother's new Nintendo DS...

Shino: You're horrible.

Deniizu: You jerk! I need you to post so I can get my 10 weekly lines of fame!

Bikto: Nobody cares about you. They all want to see Itachi and Shino.

Deniizu: Well, nobody cares about you, either, then!

Kiba: Hey, did you finish 'Hotel Dusk'?

Esperwen: Yeah! After like 12 hours and with the help of a walkthrough...

Shino: So you're a cheater, too.

Esperwen: NO. I was stuck. I always struggled with it for at least 15 minutes before I used the walkthrough.

Michiko: Ok, none of this has anything to do with the story.

Esperwen: Right, right. Reader, sorry for the wait. Please review!


	6. What to do?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, poor training habits, a list of murders, fits of anger, short people, spoilers, etc. etc.

* * *

**Chapter Six: What to do?**

"...she used to be on Korii's team, before she became a jounin," Michiko smiled, trying to make the best of things, "So, both of them are going to hang around us while they're in Konoha, ok?"

The black-haired girl looked at Saneijin and Gaara expectantly; she had just finished introducing Rinde and Daneiru to her friends. Team 8, Pooriin, and Itachi were also nearby, talking with Korii and Deniizu; all of them were in the Inuzuka's expansive backyard.

"...Korii-nii's other teammate is better," Saneijin said bluntly, and Gaara simply cut his eyes from the couple standing in front of him.

Silently, Gaara walked out of the yard with Aramis and D'Artagnan in stride; Saneijin rode beside Gaara on Porthos. Judging from his reaction, Michiko guessed Gaara did not like Rinde and Daneiru either. Nobody in the backyard was surprised by Gaara's reaction, though, because though Gaara was just a tiny bit more approachable than he used to be, that did not mean that he liked people, and Rinde and Daneiru had not exactly been trying to be likeable. Not speaking, Michiko simply watched as they left the property, then looked questioningly at Athos and made a few hand signals.

It's ok, Athos answered, after watching her hands, I don't like them, but I won't leave you to suffer alone.

Michiko smiled appreciatively at her dog, then looked at Rinde and Daneiru.

"Well, I'm just gonna stay home and train," Michiko said, stretching her hands over her head, lazily.

"Ugh, training," Rinde rolled her eyes, then started walking towards the backyard's exit, towing Daneiru right behind her by pulling on the back collar of his chuunin vest, "Who needs that? I'm a jounin already; we're going home."

"Eh...what? Shouldn't you also train?" Michiko asked, blinking.

"Well, maybe some little inexperienced genins, but _I'm_ a jounin, now," Rinde scoffed.

Michiko opened her mouth to say that Korii and Shino were chuunins by now, so not all of them were genin, but Korii and Deniizu were suddenly at her sides, covering her mouth before she could say any more. They had to stop Michiko from saying anything that Rinde might consider an invitation to stay.

"'Bye, Rinde!" Deniizu waved, a fake smile plastered onto her face.

"Ja ne!" Rinde called back with a huge grin, and Daneiru threw back a helpless look while he waved his goodbye.

"...'ja ne'?" Korii growled, when Rinde was out of sight, "What if I don't _want_ to see her later?"

"Oh, give her a break," Michiko sighed, and ignored the irritated looks her two teammates gave her while she turned to the others in the yard, "So...what do you guys think?"

"She said our house was too cold and cramped for her, which is the reason why we're _standing out here, RIGHT NOW!_" Kiba answered, starting off quietly, then quickly raising his volume until he was yelling at Michiko.

"She said I looked fat in this sweater..." Hinata mumbled, bowing her head and playing with her fingers.

_Yeah, that wasn't very nice,_ Michiko agreed, but she said out loud, "But she also said you had really nice hair."

Hinata touched her jet-black hair self-consciously; she was letting it grow, now, and it had reached her shoulders.

"What about you, Shino?" Deniizu asked, looking at the ninja in question.

Shino hadn't changed much over the past few months. He had new sunglasses, but other than that, he was still the same Shino.

"You don't want me to answer that question," Shino said in a deadpan, causing a sweatdrop to form on Michiko's forehead.

"This was worse than the sleepover," Pooriin moaned, crossing her arms unhappily.

Even Pooriin had undergone some small changes with her clothing over the past few months in Konoha; she had switched her pink capris for shorts, but her shirt was still the same style as Ino's, and her hair was still in its usual ponytail.

Itachi probably had the most effective answer of all. He simply crossed the yard, took Deniizu by the hand, and drew her away from the group before he answered Michiko.

"If she stays in Konoha, we're leaving," Itachi said in a low voice, before both he and Deniizu disappeared in a puff of smoke.

There was a long silence in the yard. Even Athos and Akamaru did not make any noise for a while.

"...that sucked," Korii said after a moment, "If Itachi had killed her, it would have been ok. Just another murder on his list."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS!" Michiko exploded, stomping a foot and curling her hands into fists.

Athos and Akamaru ran towards the house, tails between their legs, passing by a jounin that had just arrived. Not seeing the boy, all present but Shino and Korii cringed; the two ninja mentioned were rarely fazed by anything, even if it was a rare show of Michiko's temper. When annoyed, she spoke louder and made more elaborate hand motions. When angry, all ninja in the Inuzuka's backyard knew that things tended to get a little dangerous. Not that she had popped emotionally, yet; she still was able to maintain a certain degree of control.

"GIVE HER A CHANCE!" Michiko yelled, her clothing starting to smoulder, "JUST ONE CHANCE! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT SOMETIMES...SOMETIMES..."

Michiko shut her eyes, threw her head back, and screamed as loud as she could. Birds flew out of the neighbouring trees, and on a hunch, Korii jumped away from his friend as fast as he could. Michiko let herself turn into white fire; the emotional trigger for that element was anger and extreme frustration, and she was feeling plenty of it.

_Oh, good,_ Hinata thought, when she saw that Michiko's clothes didn't burn up, _She's still in control. She just wants some kind of release; she's been holding that anger in all day, I'm guessing._

The jounin that entered the yard shared a nod with Korii, then held a short conversation with him in hushed tones. Michiko kept punching and kicking in the various taijutsu forms that Goudon and Pooriin had taught her; she was trying to use up her chakra and energy before she hurt somebody by accident, focusing her anger on invisible enemies. The jounin nodded once, then gave a small salute to Team 8 before turning to Kiba, the representative of the property they were on.

"Raiko Firu, requesting permission to engage in dangerous battle with your sister," the 17-year-old grinned.

"MY GOODNESS! TRAINING'S JUST FOR GENIN?!" Michiko yelled, with a fierce uppercut that threatened a nearby tree, "WHAT, SHE'S SUDDENLY FOUR YEARS OLDER AND AN INCH TALLER THAN ALL OF US, SO WE'RE ALL INFERIOR TO HER?! I'M GLAD SHE'S SHORT BACK AT HOME!"

"I think she's gone insane," Korii murmured to himself, _She's finally joined the club._

"Go ahead," Kiba laughed nervously, "She's all yours. Just don't burn down my house."

Firu nodded, then ran to meet his friend, transforming also into white fire as he went. He stopped one of her punches with his forearm, then threw a punch at her face. Taking this in stride, she blocked, then kicked out from the side, almost dancing. Firu stopped the kick with his foot, then grabbed her leg and flipped her in the air. Michiko caught herself with her arms, using chakra to keep balanced since she couldn't do it on her own, and smoothly transformed from fire, straight into water. Firu transformed into water as well, knowing that she could accidentally kill him if he stayed as fire. Michiko flattened her water form, so that it was a pool, then controlled it so that Firu was surrounded in a ring of water.

"Wow," Kiba blinked, "She's been working hard in Suna."

"Water's the element that she can manipulate the best," Pooriin said, "But she's having trouble with the other ones; water's supposed to be easiest."

"It's still pretty cool," Kiba said, while the water ring began to rise around Firu, "Did she tell you what this technique does?"

Calmly, Shino and Hinata watched as the water suddenly splashed upwards at Firu. The jounin simply shrugged a little and flattened himself into a puddle, faster than Michiko had. Immediately, both elemental changelings began fighting as water, splashing and making waves, vying for some unknown purpose; occasionally, their upper bodies could be seen, but then they would melt and simply be waves again.

"What are they trying to do?" Hinata asked, not really sure what she was watching; was it a complex dance, or a fight?

"It's a training technique that Firu made up," Korii explained, "Both keep bashing each other until someone gives up and transforms back to normal. It helps train Elemental Manipulation."

Abruptly, Michiko suddenly appeared in her usual form within a sphere of water, looking like she had just been caught in the Water Prison Technique. She looked exhausted, and she collapsed onto the ground when Water-Firu moved away from her and transformed back into himself.

"You weren't rationing your chakra at all," Firu observed, standing by Michiko, "You put too much into that technique."

The 13-year-old shook her head breathlessly; she had made sure that her primary limit was reached. Firu had felt her chakra flowing hard while she was manipulating her water form; all the people in her clan needed to have large chakra supplies for survival, and Michiko was no exception, but she had pushed herself as hard as she could go. Michiko had been aiming at using up her energy, not improving her manipulation skills. A little bit longer, and she would have burned out, but she was a medical ninja too, and they needed excellent chakra control, something that she had just demonstrated.

"...feel better?" Firu asked, raising an eyebrow.

With Shino's help, Michiko got up on shaky legs, waiting until she had caught her breath, then shook her head slowly.

"I don't like that they're in Konoha," she answered solemnly, "I don't know if they should stay, either."

"Permission to kill her?" Firu asked, raising a hand.

"No," Michiko said bluntly, before Korii could give his approval, "No killing."

"How did they get here in the first place?" Kiba asked, annoyed.

"Linda had been wondering why we were always skipping school," Michiko explained, "And Daniel eventually figured out that it was always on Monday. We underestimated Linda; she said she was going to a lesson, when really she went to another shop to meet up with Daniel. See? She has smart moments!"

"Stop rationalizing for her and get on with your explanation," Korii growled.

"Fine, be that way. They watched us for the whole day and we didn't even notice them. Daniel hangs out at Chinatown more than we do, since he knows people that live there; he knew more hiding places and he could guess where we were headed to so he and Linda could strategize where to hide."

"If he's that smart, he deserves someone who's better than Linda," Pooriin pouted, "No offence."

"I thought she was your soul mate?" Michiko teased, a small smile on her face.

"I took that back _days_ ago," Pooriin said, rolling her eyes emphatically.

"But now they're here," Korii sighed, "What do we do?"

"They're not that big of a threat," Shino said, always looking at a situation with an impersonal eye, "Linda is only annoying, and so long as Daneiru is not around Rinde, he's not a bad guy."

_...they can't ever understand,_ Michiko thought, looking down at her feet, _Sometimes, Daniel can get obnoxious. And he once told me that if he ever got into Naruto's world, he'd tell everyone that they're really just part of a manga, and he'd tell them their futures since he's already read some post-time skip manga. And that's against the rules. Whenever any of these people got even the slightest hint that there's more to them in our world than they think, they immediately forget it. Some kind of cross-dimensional mind wipe or something._ _But if someone just comes right out and tells them...what would that do?_

Michiko felt something land on her head, and looking up, she realized Firu had put his hand there.

"You're face will stick like that if you keep it that way for too long," he said, pointing at the crease in her forehead, "Relax. Korii and I will watch them. The rest of you can just train."

Michiko sighed, rubbed her forehead to get the crease out, then nodded. Things were probably going to be just fine. Rinde was just a loudmouth, and Daneiru might not actually traumatize this world by informing them that they were all figment of Masashi Kishimoto's imagination. Everything might be ok.

* * *

Esperwen: Oh, yeah. I posted on time. 

Shino: (flips through Esperwen's planner) You do realize you have two projects due in the next two days?

Esperwen: Do you want to live on in my fic, or what?

Shino: I'm showing up in the next Shippuuden episode. What do I care about you?

Esperwen: I give you life, and this is how you repay me...

Shino: Reader, kindly review. And give Esperwen some time to write her reports; she's already failing three courses.

Esperwen: Shut up!


	7. The Fourteenth Portal User

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any places or themes affiliated, Gaara, who should have his own series, rather than just that arc, Tsunade, who I'm worried about because she's very old and I don't want her to die during Shippuuden, Temari, who is the most awesome big sister ever, AsumaXKurenai love, Tsume, who is a very lenient but loving mother, emo-Sasuke-arrogant-face, evil-Itachi-arrogant-face, the hyper son of the the Yellow Flash of Konoha, and so on.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: The Fourteenth Portal-User**

The afternoon of the portal-user's third day back, Gaara heard a knock at his hotel door. Saneijin, who usually opened the door to greet people, was napping on his bed, so Gaara suppressed a sigh and got up from his paperwork. He was writing a report on the performance of Suna's shinobi in the last Chuunin Exam in place of Temari, since Temari had needed to go straight back in Suna to run the village. All three of the Sand Siblings had gained the intermediate ninja's rank, meeting everyone's expectations. First opening the door a crack to see who was in the hallway, Gaara blinked, then opened the door normally. Michiko was there, wearing a huge hooded cloak that seemed to be borrowed from Firu. She glanced right and left furtively, appearing to be hiding from someone, then hurried into the hotel room and closed the door behind her. Breathing deeply, she took the cloak off, and sat on the floor by Saneijin's bed.

"Thank you," she sighed, smiling up at Gaara, "Don't worry, my pack will be coming soon, so I won't bother you for very long. We're all hiding from...yeah, Rinde."

Gaara shook his head slightly, then returned to his paperwork. All of Teams 13 and 8 had been running from Rinde during the past three days, Gaara had noticed. Michiko watched him for a moment, examining her friend; he was going through his growth spurt, and was already a good three inches taller than her. Still, Michiko didn't expect to be very tall; she was of average size even back in her school. After a moment, she checked on Saneijin to make sure he was comfortable. The four-and-a-half-year-old had been staying with Gaara instead of Michiko since Rinde had appeared. Since the 16-year-old jounin kunoichi was constantly visiting the Inuzuka household to see Michiko, Saneijin had found himself at the mercy of Rinde's cheek pinches. He didn't like this, which was why he was hiding out with Gaara, who Rinde was terrified of. Maybe Rinde would be too afraid to approach Gaara's hotel, when she saw that Michiko's dogs were headed that way, and maybe Rinde would leave Michiko alone. But just maybe.

"...You haven't been training, this past week," Michiko said quietly, done with examining Saneijin, "What's with that?"

"...there's no room, here," Gaara answered, signing a paper, "Not enough sand."

_And making his own sand would ruin the terrain and bother Konoha, which we can't do because we're allies,_ Michiko thought, recalling a few past conversations.

"We're leaving early," Gaara said, surprising Michiko by both starting a conversation topic for once and telling her about a sudden change of plans, "Tomorrow."

"_Nani_?" Michiko exclaimed, just as a scratch at the door was heard.

Quickly, Michiko peeked outside, then let in Athos and Porthos. Before, Athos and Porthos had been on the same dog team, but since they had all grown up differently, the teams had changed to accomodate the dogs' various abilities. Ever since then, Athos and Aramis were supposed to be together, and Porthos and D'Artagnan.

"Hey...you're not supposed to be together. What happened?"

We were the ones that weren't watched, Porthos explained, before jumping onto the bed to guard Saneijin.

Rinde's after Aramis, and Daneiru's following D'Artagnan, Athos said to Michiko tersely, They'll probably be here when it gets dark.

"Ok," Michiko nodded, patting both of them on the head, then turned back to Gaara, "Why are we leaving tomorrow? We're supposed to leave two weeks from now."

"A falcon flew in this morning from Temari," Gaara answered in his usual indirect way.

Without saying another word, the young shinobi passed the scroll he had received to Michiko. The black-haired girl read it, then gasped at what she saw and read it again.

"Three organized bandit attacks?" Michiko asked, with a mixture of awe and fear, "That's insane! And...12 ninja casualties! This can't be right! The Hidden Sand's stronger than that!"

"Suna lost many experienced ninja seven months ago, during the interrupted Chuunin exam," Gaara reminded, still signing his papers and making notes, "The casualties were mostly genin; the bandits aimed for them first."

"...And so now Suna needs power and medical aid," Michiko nodded, forcing herself into her focused, medical ninja mode, "That's you and me, right there. Have you spoken to Tsunade-sam...no, of course you did. Who is she sending and what rank mission is this?"

"Three experienced ninja teams and two extra jounin will be travelling with us; it's an A-rank," Gaara answered, passing Michiko yet a sheet with the names.

"Huh...they're all fairly young teams," Michiko mused, "Probably because all the jounin and chuunin have their own missions. Yes, Team 8!" Michiko smiled, "And Team 10..." _Asuma and Kurenai on a mission together...now _that_ will be interesting,_ "Team 13, only I'm being replaced by...WHAT IS THIS?" Michiko stared at the name incredulously, "DANEIRU'S MY REPLACEMENT! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?"

Gaara simply stepped over and pointed at the two extra jounin's names on the paper. Saneijin sat up, rubbing his eyes drowsily, wondering what the commotion was about, but Porthos immediately tackled him to cover his ears.

"So it's Firu, that's good, and..._THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"_ Michiko screamed, dropping the paper and sitting down hard on the ground; she curled up into the fetal position and started rocking back and forth, muttering, "It's a dream...It's just a dream...It's just a horrible dream..."

Gaara ignored her muttering and went back to his paperwork. Nothing can faze Suna's ultimate killing machine, Suna no Gaara. Not even a mentally broken kunoichi.

What did the paper say? Athos asked, sitting beside Michiko and letting her hug him.

"It's Rinde," Michiko whimpered into Athos' fur, "We have to travel for three days with Rinde! I'm going to die, now."

Nooo, not a road trip with Rinde...Sadness, and more sadness...

Later on, instead of going back to the Inuzuka's home, Michiko opted to stay with Gaara and Saneijin for the night. Aramis and D'Artagnan hadn't reached her yet, and she wanted to wait for them, so she was still in the hotel room. She had sent a message by Athos, and the large dog had brought back a sleeping bag that Tsume had sent, so Michiko was all set for the night. If she stayed around Gaara, she would be Rinde free. For a little while, Michiko felt like a jerk for leaving Rinde out in the cold, but then she remembered all the short jokes Rinde kept aiming at her for the past three days, and the feeling was gone.

In front of her, Saneijin was again sleeping on his bed; when he had awakened, he and Michiko had played a few games and explored the hotel, and now he needed his rest. Michiko looked at Gaara subtly, with the corners of her eyes. He was almost done his stack of papers; he would be going up to the roof soon, she knew. At that moment, Gaara turned around and looked straight at her; a little sheepishly, she turned to face him properly. Did he feel her eyes? Probably not...but still. She felt a little guilty.

"Sleep," he said calmly, "I'll let the dogs in."

"I'd feel bad, tomorrow morning," Michiko said, shaking her head and stifling a yawn, "They stay up late all the time, for me. I may as well return the favor."

Gaara looked at her, with absolutely no expression, then signed his last paper and stepped through the room's window. He stepped onto a bit of his sand, and started moving up; Michiko recalled from past experience that the sand would carry him up to the roof.

_...Now's my chance,_ Michiko thought, and she snapped into action; she wasn't tired and that yawn had been fake.

"Porthos, go home and tell Kiba that I've already gone back, ok?" Michiko asked, holding the mottled dog's head in her hands.

The heavy-set dog wuffed quietly, then hurried to the window, looked around, and jumped out towards the Inuzuka household.

"Athos, wait here until Aramis and D'Artagnan arrive. Then, all three of you hurry home, got it?"

Athos sniffed Michiko's face and licked her nose affectionately. He understood. But he also didn't want to watch her leave.

"I'm sorry, boy, but you have to," Michiko said apologetically, taking out her old dagger, "Porthos always blinks, and you're the only one left."

She stared at the weapon for a moment, steeling herself mentally. Ironic that Sasuke had given the weapon to her; she despised the fact that he had abandoned everyone for his own purposes, and she especially hated doing this. Two types of anger in one dagger.

And then to Gaara...

_That's strange..._

In the corner of his eye, Gaara saw Porthos jump out of the hotel window, which was thankfully on ground level; as soon as Porthos get his bearings, he began running down one of the streets.

_...That's never happened before,_ Gaara thought, _But then again, Michiko almost never comes to my room..._

On a hunch, Gaara made his sand levitate him down from the roof to his window again. He knew he probably shouldn't spy on his friend, but this was one of times when he knew something was going to go wrong.

_What's Michiko up to?_

Gaara looked in, just in time to see Michiko touch the point of her dagger against her body, bracing herself.

_What is she...?_

Michiko held the dagger out, as far as her arms could reach, and Gaara realized what she was about to do.

_NO!_

Gaara moved his sand forward as fast as he could, just as Michiko moved her arms down. Hearing the air shifting around the sand, Michiko turned her head to see what was happening, but still moving the dagger. Her eyes widened when she saw Gaara at the window, but it was too late for her to stop herself. Gaara simply kept the sand moving; maybe he could reach her in time. But just as the sand was about to touch her, the dagger went straight into her stomach.

Gaara froze, his eyes unbelieving. Athos was still there, sitting by Saneijin's bed, but Michiko...

"Where is she?" Gaara asked Athos brusquely, _She disappeared...?_

Athos simply sat there. Gaara stared at the dog, his mind going into overtime.

_She can't be dead; when people die, their bodies are still there. Michiko disappeared. If she were dead, Athos would be heartbroken. And Michiko frowns own seppukku, so...this doesn't add up. What is going on?_

A scratch was heard at the door, and Gaara stepped into and across the room to open the door. D'Artagnan was there, and Aramis was right behind, with Rinde and Daneiru following close. Athos looked at Gaara, made a beckoning motion with his head, and ran down the hallway, barking something to his brothers. Gaara followed; he and Athos had an understanding. Athos would take Gaara to Michiko.

"Ack!"

Rinde pressed herself hard against the hallway's wall when Gaara passed, but the young shinobi didn't even note her presence.

"He's off somewhere in a hurry," Rinde observed, just as Daneiru reached her.

"Hey, they're all leaving the hotel again," Daneiru sighed, watching the dogs, "We chased them here only to leave again."

"I know, I'm not blind!" Rinde snapped, kicking him in the shin, "C'mon. We're supposed to get back to Kiba's house tonight, anyway."

Wild goose chase. Lovely.

When the three dogs, Gaara, Rinde and Daneiru reached the Inuzuka household, Team 8, Itachi, Naruto and Korii were also there. The older Hyuuga winced when he saw the Sand shinobi.

"Gaara?" Naruto looked at his fellow demon carrier excitedly, "You're here?"

"...Rinde is someone none of us want to see, but she has to be here anyway," Korii sighed, "Gaara-sama, as much as we don't mind, what the hell are you doing here?"

"HEY!"

Daneiru held Rinde by the arm, to prevent her from lashing out at Korii. He earned another kick in the shin, but he still managed to prevent another scene.

"Korii-kun..." Hinata said disapprovingly; he seemed rude, to her.

"Honesty is my policy, now," Korii nodded solemnly.

"For how long?" Kiba smirked, "Give or take ten, fifteen minutes?"

Gaara looked around the Inuzuka's yard, then at the house. All the lights were out; that meant that Hana and Tsume were either on a mission, or asleep.

"I saw Michiko-san disappear," Gaara said, in a voice just barely loud enough to be heard.

Itachi rolled his eyes, and Korii swore quietly under his breath.

"Then you have to come, too," Kiba sighed, getting up from his place on the ground, "Korii, you do your thing. By the way, you saw Inel-san, Firu-senpai, Deniizu and Pooriin leave already, right?"

Korii nodded, then walked to the nearest tree. You wouldn't have thought that four of his friends had 'died' in front of him.

"Only Itachi needs watch," Shino said, taking Hinata by the arm and steering her so that she wouldn't watch her cousin.

"Neh, Gaara," Naruto grinned at his friend, "I'll tell you what's happening on the way. It's no big deal, trust me."

_Because everybody changes what world they're in on a daily basis,_ Itachi thought sarcastically, _Damn...I should just finish my job and collect the Kyuubi, already. But the preparations aren't complete, yet._

"Let's go!" Naruto yelled, and the group started to walk towards the training field, and their own portal.

NARUTO! How I have missed writing about you...

Michelle only waited until all eight of the other greenhouse portal-users arrived, then ran full-tilt towards the doors.

"Michelle, what're you doing?" Daniel asked, while Corey grabbed her arm to stop her.

"It's Gaara," Michelle said, fighting against Corey and struggling to get to the doors, "I have to know if he saw me!"

"He did," Corey said bluntly, holding onto her arm effortlessly.

"Nooo!" Michelle moaned, falling to the ground, as if she had been shot, "What does he think?"

"I think he was just confused," Daniel answered cheerfully, "But...with Gaara, it's kind of hard to tell. He has no facial expressions."

"Do you _want_ to get hit?" Denise asked, glaring at the tall boy.

"Wait for one minute," Ionel shook his head, "You are saying that the Hidden Sand's killing machine has seen you doing the suicide? And he is following you to these world, now?"

"...I'm sorry," Michelle put her head down against the greenhouse's floor.

Ionel stared at his student, a muscle on his jaw completely tense, then he marched to the doors. Michelle winced; she hated disappointing her favourite teacher. Corey saw her facial expression, and sighed as he hauled her up from the floor.

"Get up. It's probably not that big of a deal," Corey whispered, while Linda and Pauline jumped down from their branches in the greenhouse's tree, "Just relax."

"He might have, I dunno, _blinked _just before you killed yourself, for all we know," Pauline pointed out optimistically.

The rest of the people in the greenhouse stared at the 15-year-old, while Michelle just slouched.

"...That's taking optimism to a totally new level," Phil said bluntly, his hand already on the greenhouse door, "An _insane_ level."

"No," Denise shook her head, "Just...no."

"No, he's here," Corey said, also shaking his head, "Trust me. He went with Itachi and the rest of them."

Michelle smiled weakly at her cousin's attempts at cheering her up, then winced again. Quickly, she broke away from her friends and ran towards the doors, yet again. This time, no-one stopped her, and she made it through; as soon as she got out of the greenhouse, she hurried to the street, past the alleyway where she knew the former ninja were reappearing.

_Mii-chan?_ Shaun thought, seeing Michelle run by, her hair flying and backpack only half on, _Where's she going?_

"Oy, Michelle!" Kyle yelled, running out of the alleyway and just missing her, "The hell are you doing?"

"Did Gaara see me?" Michelle yelled back, running backwards now.

"Yeah, why? Where's the fire?" Nat bellowed in answer, but Michelle only turned around and ran faster.

Isaac rolled his eyes at his juniors' pathetic efforts, and walked in a stately manner to the greenhouse's alleyway, with Hinata and Shaun in tow. Walking calmly, he noted that Michelle had just caught one of the city streetcars; none of the others could follow her now, since they were too far away. Looking ahead, Isaac saw that Mr. Stoica led his own group of portal-users to Isaac's contingent.

"She wants to see Gaara," Mr. Stoica said, completely business-like, "She is worrying about him."

"Why's she worried about _him_?" Linda sniffed, "Isn't he strong enough on his own?"

"There's this little thing you don't understand called 'friendship'," Kyle snapped, making quote marks with his fingers.

_Though, I don't understand what Michelle's doing either,_ Hinata thought, looking at the streetcar that was pulling away from the street, _Before she returned to Konoha, all of Michiko's letters had been full of Saneijin and Gaara. And she'd been spending almost as much time with them as with us when she came back home. We understand that she's friends with him...but he's still Gaara. What's she see? He still scares me; he almost killed Lee-san and Naruto-kun._

_Him again..._Shaun's hands went into fists unintentionally, _She's been spending so much time with him..._

"Gaara was the only one Michiko could ever talk to, you know," Pauline said quietly, "He's the only one she could get close to."

"And this is Michelle we're talking about," Phil shrugged, "C'mon. She's basically Linda's mom," here he ignored a glare from Linda, "She tries to be my mom. She tries to be _Corey's_ mom, sometimes, for crying out loud."

"Waaay too much estrogen," Daniel smirked, earning a punch from Denise.

"What's estrogen?" Nat asked, looking confused, "I know we studied it in Science last year, but I can't remember-"

"Moron," Isaac cut in, starting to walk towards the bus stop, "I've had enough. Your stupidity could rub off onto me. And it's oxytocin"

_...he's almost exactly how I remember Sasuke,_ Kyle thought, narrowing his eyes, _So damn arrogant. ...Wait, what?_

"...Let us all just go home," Ionel shook his head, "We have had some eventful three days. We can meet together again during lunch, tomorrow."

Heehee...hormones are funny...

Michelle jumped off the bus and ran to the block's corner. Skidding to a stop, she checked to make sure the way was clear before crossing the street. Supermom always looks both ways. Not that she thought of herself as Supermom, of course.

_C'mon, c'mon..._

Her breathing was already ragged by the time she reached the apartment complex where Denise, Hinata and Isaac lived. She almost never took her trained body across worlds; this time, she'd taken her healing jutsu, as usual.

Just like how the portal-users of this world always ended up in front of the Hokage's building when they travelled across for the first time, the former ninja had always appeared coming out of a tree near Denise's apartment building. Michelle reached the tree, breathless, and walked around it twice, patting the trunk as she did so to make sure it was solid.

"Where...what...?" Michelle gasped, still not breathing right, "Where...is...he?"

Michelle sat down hard when reality hit her. Gaara wasn't near the tree. He must have wandered off somewhere else.

"But where...would he go?" Michelle panted, lying down with a thud, "I can't believe this. I just lost the ultimate killing machine!"

* * *

Esperwen: And...end chapter! I posted a good, well-sized chapter, and on Tuesday morning! I am so proud of myself. 

Itachi: You made me say 'oxytosin'.

Esperwen: Time to run! (leaves room)

Itachi: Damn. Reader, review for a change. And if you mention oxytosin, I swear I will kill you.


	8. Plans of Action, and Strange Projects

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places, or themes affiliated. I also do not own annoying Grade 7s, trippy anime music, formal debates, getting paid for nothing, scary gangs, hacking firewalls, babysitting simulated children, sleepless nights, or scary techniques that take over the world.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Plans of Action and Strange Projects**

Shaun stood at the end of Michelle's driveway, that Tuesday morning, waiting for her so that both of them could take the bus to school together. The tall 17-year-old eyed the house's windows warily; he had managed to get on Michelle's parents good graces in the past few months that they had been dating, but her brother never looked at Shaun with anything less than hostility. Whenever they met, Dragan either made as many rude comments as he could, or simply gave Shaun unfriendly looks. Shaun wasn't afraid of the 12-year-old; he simply didn't want to deal with the Grade 7 unless absolutely necessary.

With minor relief, Shaun saw Michelle exit her house and wave to him in greeting. She locked the front door behind her, then walked down her driveway, adjusting her backpack and shifting her violin case between hands. She would have instrumental class that day, Shaun guessed.

"Let's go," Michelle smiled, starting to walk along the sidewalk.

Shaun fell right in step beside her, standing between her and the road with their arms touching, like he always did.

"I didn't catch up with you, yesterday," Shaun said conversationally, "You were in a rush."

"Oh...yeah," Michelle looked glum, "I wanted to find...well...you probably already know that Gaara came between worlds. I just wanted to check on him before he went far on his own."

"He would have obtained his own memories of a life in this world, right?" Shaun asked, raising and eyebrow, "And he was a very resourceful shinobi. He should be fine."

"I know," Michelle nodded, "But...still. I still worry about Denise when she goes missing every now and then, and she's always with Isaac. If I you went missing, I'd still be worried, and you..."

Michelle stopped herself. She wanted to finish with "you don't actually need me," but that seemed too harsh. Still, it was true. Shino would have become a chuunin during that first exam if he had only been able to take part in the tournament.

Shaun looked at Michelle briefly, thinking his own thoughts, then nudged her with an elbow.

"The bus is there," he said calmly, leading her at a run.

_...what? He wouldn't be worried about _me? Michelle thought, doing her best to keep up, _See, this is why we don't drop hints for sweet talk to Shino. He rarely bothers with taking them._

Where is Gaara-kun...?

That lunch period, all eleven original portal-users in the school met together in Mr. Stoica's Strings room. They all had the alibi that they were part of two bands that Ionel just happened to be managing.

"Everyone is tuned?" Ionel asked, tapping his foot impatiently at the front of the class.

"...yes," Phil rolled his eyes, standing near the sound system, "Because I'm totally helping out a band that Michelle's in."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the latter asked, somewhat offended, from her place at a keyboard.

"It means that Phil doesn't like the trippy anime music that you and Denise are always listening to," Corey answered, holding a bass guitar with the easy grace of someone who knows what he's doing.

"My music isn't trippy!" Denise argued, pausing in the middle of tuning her acoustic guitar, then remembered one of the closing credit songs during a filler arc in the Bleach anime, "...Ok, maybe dancing plush toys is trippy. But not all of my music!"

On the other side of the room, Nat, Hinata and Kyle shared grins; Denise probably had the most diverse musical taste. If it wasn't J-pop or anime background music, it was classical, heavy metal, Romanian folk tunes, or Gino beats. So long as it wasn't rap or country, Denise listened to it.

"Do we really have to do all this?" Shaun asked, waving his electric guitar slightly to motion at the group's elaborate set-up.

"This is overkill," Isaac agreed with a yawn, sitting back on the his bench, "We could have just pretended we were all in a band. We didn't need to set up all the instruments."

"Admit it," Kyle smirked, holding a microphone, "You guys think this band thing is fun."

"Friggin' A," Nat laughed, sitting at the drum kit and giving Kyle a thumb's-up.

"Um..." Hinata played with her fingers, her instrument strapped onto her shoulders, "Do we get to play after we talk?"

"...Did you actually practice?" Kyle gave his friend a look.

"M-maybe..." Hinata looked at her feet.

Michelle smiled to herself while she arranged her sheets of chords on the keyboard. It had been enough of a surprise to find out that Isaac played the piano. What she honestly didn't expect was for Hinata to play the bass guitar. For music class, the 16-year-old played the viola, which was nothing like the bass; she must have learned from one of her foster families, or in another school.

_I wonder how she sounds when she plays,_ Denise thought to herself, trying a few power chords for tuning, _Oh well. We get to see who can play 'Haruka Kanata' better here; they're going first. There's a cool bass intro._

"So," Ionel crossed his arms, "You have now tuned and are ready, so do we warm up, or we talk about the new travellers first?"

"I vote the travellers," Denise said, promptly putting her hand up.

"I second that motion," Phil said quickly, speaking right over Kyle.

"Motion is pass, we speak about travellers," Ionel nodded, smiling slightly, "Who begins discussion?"

"Pick me!" Nat exclaimed, raising his hand high, "Over here!"

Ionel rubbed his forehead, slightly irked at Nat's volume, then nodded his approval.

"Ok, um..." Nat thought for a moment, "I don't like Linda, 'cuz I think she's annoying and doesn't stop talking about herself. But Daniel can keep coming, since he's nice enough, and he's kind of funny. And I think it's great that Gaara made it through! ...but Linda is annoying as hell..."

"Then...shall we start with discussing Linda?" Shaun said, writing as he spoke.

"...Are you taking notes?" Nat asked, looking over Shaun's shoulder.

"We sounded like a forum or formal debate of some kind, so I'm taking the minutes down," Shaun answered, his pen flying across the page.

_You dork,_ Michelle thought affectionately.

_You nerd,_ Kiba thought, rolling his eyes.

_...This guy takes things way too seriously,_ Nat thought, sweatdropping.

"I don't like Linda either," Corey spoke up, "I think she should die."

"I second that motion," Phil raised his hand.

"Guys!" Michelle cut in, "Don't start."

"She's a waste of time and effort; she doesn't do anything useful, not even train," Isaac informed her, "I don't know how she became a jounin, and I don't think she deserves to be a ninja at all."

"You have no seen her fighting," Ionel pointed out.

"She seems weaker than Michiko," Isaac countered.

"Whoa," Kyle sucked in a breath sharply, "That's pretty weak."

A nerve popped on Michelle's forehead, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

"She's only annoying," Hinata argued quietly, "She's harmless."

"She's _really_ annoying," Nat said stubbornly, "Annoying as _hell_, remember?"

"Y'know, we all think _you're_ pretty annoying," Phil pointed out.

"But we don't like her," Nat said, pouting and sticking his lower lip out, "She doesn't stop being annoying."

"..._You_ wouldn't stop being annoying, before you became a genin," Shaun said, adjusting his sunglasses with one finger.

"That's different!" Nat snapped, "Go back to writing down your dumb minutes!"

"Nat, settle down," Ionel admonished, "How about a compromise? If she causes any problems, we will confront her. If no, she is left alone. Yes?"

"...I second that motion," Michelle said softly, raising a hand.

"I third it," Denise added, "It sounds fair."

"Motion passed," Ionel nodded, "Now, what about Daniel?"

"Messy hair, and can be a bit of a douche, but he can keep coming to Konoha," Corey said flatly, "Comparing him to Linda, we should pay him to come to Konoha."

"We should _all_ be paid!" Kyle exclaimed, with a bark of laughter, "Who's with me? I move that-"

"Shut up," Shaun grumbled, flicking Kyle on the forehead with his pencil, "That's off topic."

"Going back to Daniel, I agree with Corey," Phil spoke up, "Let him come. ...But don't pay him."

"...I still don't know," Denise said unsurely, shaking her head.

"What've you got against him?" Kyle argued, "He's tolerable, he keeps his business to himself...he hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Ano...sometimes, I see him watching me..." Hinata hesitated, "I get a bad feeling. Like...I shouldn't talk to him, just then."

"...I'm getting that vibe, too," Shaun said, suddenly, "He knows something, and it's dangerous. I don't trust him."

"I don't either," Isaac agreed, startling everyone in the room, "He needs to be watched, just the same as Linda."

"Who seconds it?" Ionel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Me," Phil said, raising a hand.

"I third it," Shaun put his hand up.

"Motion carried," Ionel nodded, then smiled broadly, "We are all so organized! I am impressed! Now, what do we know about Gaara-sama?"

_...words in Japanese, spoken with a Romanian accent..._Phil's eye twitched, _That shouldn't be allowed._

A moment of silence passed. Nobody had seen Gaara since he went into the tree portal in Konoha. He didn't attend their school, as far as anybody in the room knew.

"Has anybody at least heard from Gaara?" Michelle asked in a small voice; she was still worried about him.

"...He's your age," Isaac informed them flatly, "Somewhere around 16 years old."

"Really? How do you know?" Corey raised an eyebrow, always the skeptic.

"His name's Gareth Sander," Isaac continued, as if Corey hadn't spoken up, "He's part of the Crips gang."

"...Ok, that's why you scare me," Nat shuddered, "You hang out with gangs."

"But...aren't you a Blood?" Denise asked, suddenly understanding something.

Isaac nodded, and Hinata and Michelle went visibly pale, while Corey pressed his lips together tightly, and Kyle's grip on his microphone tightened. The Bloods and Crips gangs were sworn rivals; if one of each gang entered a room together, usually only one would walk out of it afterwards. Inel tried to pretend that he didn't hear anything about gangs at all.

"So, what do we do about Gaar...uh...Gareth?" Phil asked, rubbing his forehead tiredly.

"We have to find him," Michelle said, looking at her ninja team for support.

"Why?" Isaac shrugged, "So you can protect him? Jeez...and I thought you were weak-hearted before."

"We need to tell him about the portal's rules," Shaun said, still looking at things logically, even if he didn't like Gaara very much, "He doesn't know how to get back to Konoha."

"So he _does_ need us," Nat said, twirling his drumsticks between his fingers idly, "We just need to talk to him, and then we're all home free."

"And how do we know he isn't safe?" Michelle added, "All we know is that he got through worlds."

"Do you know where he lives?" Hinata asked, looking at Isaac hesitantly.

"Do _you_ keep track of _your_ enemies' whereabouts?" Isaac growled, making Hinata look down quickly.

"Hey, quit picking on people!" Nat exclaimed, narrowing his eyes at his senior.

"It was a reasonable question," Isaac snapped, thinking, _Dammit, somebody get me away from these stupid people...Why have I gotten along with them for so long?_

"Kyle, Isaac, relax," Michelle said, pointing at them sternly, "We'll take that as a no, then. Do you know his school?"

Isaac gave Michelle a glare that chilled her very soul.

"...That's also a 'no'," Corey said, seeing Michelle try to shrink and hide behind her keyboard.

"Hey," Denise scratched her head, "Isn't Gareth the guy that none of the Bloods even know what he looks like?"

Isaac nodded silently, and Denise explained to the rest of the room.

"Gareth's very secretive; he's rarely ever seen in public, but he's also an important gang member. He has a lot of connections with information, or whatever. I guess the only reason Isaac knows what he looks like, is because he saw Gaara back in Konoha."

"Then..." Ionel scratched his bald spot, then looked at Phil, "I will need your help after school today. We can try to break into the interschool records for finding Gareth. Hinata, too."

"Why's he asking for Hinata?" Corey whispered to Phil.

"She's also in my Computer Programming class," Phil answered, "The teacher doesn't know this, but what he teaches us actually helps us figure out passwords and hack through firewalls. It's great."

"Today? I can't," Hinata shook her head, not hearing Corey and Phil's short conversation, "I have to babysit."

"Babysit who?" Kyle looked confused, "You got a job?"

"No, it's for school," Hinata shook her head again.

"...You're babysitting a teacher's kid?" it was Nat's turn to look confused.

"No, I...never mind. You'll see after school today."

Tralalalala...the next day:

"A kid..." Corey grumbled, stomping as he marched along the sidewalk, "What's with you people and little children?"

Wednesday morning, all of the people who lived in or around Denise's apartment complex walked to school together. What Hinata had meant the day before, was that for a project in her Parenting course, she needed to take care of a simulated baby for two days straight. Michelle was doing the same project at the same time; both teens recieved a doll that was the same size as a human infant, and had sensors built into it to record abuse, neglect, or improper handling. It even had a timer and speaker, so that it would cry at certain times to be 'fed' or taken care of; all that the girls had to do was put in a key and hold it until the baby cried again, so it wasn't as difficult as an actual child.

"Babies are edible," Isaac shrugged, earning a laugh from Corey and Denise, and disgruntled looks from Hinata, Kyle and Nat.

"That's true," Corey nodded, a broad smile on his face.

"That's mean!" Hinata gasped.

"That's gross!" Nat made a face.

"That's...hey, how would you know?" Kyle asked, looking at the two other teens suspiciously.

Corey simply gave Kyle a knowing look, and Isaac ignored the question. Nat started to make a comment about how 'baby' was made of plastic, so Hinata couldn't eat it, but then the doll that Hinata was carrying began to cry.

"...that's how it cries?" Nat asked, incredulous, while Hinata quickly inserted her key into a keyhole at the baby's back.

"It sounds like a tape recording of a wounded cat," Kyle said flatly.

"A wounded cat that's drowning," Denise added, with a smirk she must have learned from Itachi.

"Do _you_ want to take care of him?" Hinata asked, offering the child to her junior student.

"No way!" Denise stepped back immediately, avoiding even touching the doll, "The only reason I like Saneijin is because he beats on Kankurou. And I don't even like him that much; if he weren't Michiko's kid, I'd avoid him."

"I wonder how Michi-chan's managing?" Hinata thought out loud, with a sigh.

"She probably got three of those things," Isaac smirked, but only half joking.

"No, just one," Hinata shook her head, "You're not allowed to take care of more than one."

"She's probably ok," Nat said, putting his hand on his chin while he thought, "She's used to taking care of kids, isn't she?"

"Not babies," Hinata answered, "And not overnight. She was so worried when we first got our babies; I hope she got through the night."

HAH. ...saw some people doing this project one day, and it made me laugh...

At that moment, Michelle stumbled, bleary-eyed, out of her house, holding her 'baby' in its carrier with a weak arm. Shaun silently took the carrier from her when she reached the sidewalk, and strode beside her, acting as her source of energy, serenity and confidence. It wasn't working; looking at her sideways, he saw dark circles under her eyes.

"She woke me up three times last night," Michelle explained, when asked why she was so tired.

"...That's better than a real baby," Shaun offered, making a good point.

They had just reached the bus stop; Michelle gave Shaun an exhausted look, then started looking down the street for the bus. She leaned against the bus stop's pole, and Shaun stood beside her, still carrying the simulated baby. Neither spoke; after about ten minutes, Shaun started to feel a little awkward.

"...You only need to take care of it for one more night, right?" Shaun asked, trying to start a conversation, _I hate it when you act all dead, like this._

Hearing no answer, he stopped watching for the bus and looked at Michelle. He blinked at what he saw, then smiled affectionately; she'd fallen asleep, leaning against the pole.

"Never mind..."

And fast-forward to school...

"Hey, Hinata?"

Looking up from showing Nat how to carry her baby, Hinata saw Daniel standing by their picnic table. It was lunchtime, so the group of friends were taking advantage of the good weather and staying outside.

"Oh...hi, Daniel. Is there anything you needed?" Hinata asked, while Nat stared at the doll in his arms, hoping he was holding it right.

"Yeah, um..." Daniel scratched his head thoughtfully, "Is it possible for you to take things back with you between portals? You know, like say I wanted to bring in a katana from Konoha for a research project? Nothing big; just for school."

Hinata thought for a moment; she still didn't completely trust Daniel. But he didn't have that intimidating aura around him just then; he seemed sincere about being careful. And at least he was asking for help, instead of going ahead and experimenting with taking items across.

"Promise you won't bring anything across that would help you take over the world?" Hinata asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I promise," Daniel nodded, with a small smile and salute.

"Ok, well...it's the same as taking techniques across worlds. You just need to hold onto the object and continue thinking about it so that it gets carried over," Hinata explained, "Michelle did it for the first time with a bag of food; she'd been hungry when coming between worlds, so that food was the first thing on her mind. Pauline accidently brought over a scroll that she was studying, once."

"Oh. Ok," Daniel nodded, and with another small smile, he was gone.

_He's not that bad a guy,_ Hinata thought to herself, _Well...sometimes he says suggestive things as jokes. But so do Kiba and Naruto, sometimes._

Suddenly, the simulated baby Naruto was holding began to cry, and he nearly screamed with shock.

"What'd I do?" Nat exclaimed, holding the baby out to Hinata, "What'd I do? Am I hurting him?"

"It's fine, Naruto-kun," Hinata smiled, gently taking the doll from Nat.

She unzipped the baby's shirt at the back, and inserted the key into its place; immediately, the baby was silent.

"He was 'hungry'," Hinata explained, and Nat sighed in relief.

"Whew. I thought I broke his neck, or something."

* * *

Itachi: You just had to put in the simulated babies thing. 

Esperwen: That project is just sooo funny to watch. I had to.

Denise: What happened to just carrying around a raw egg or a bag of flour for that project? That's so much easier.

Esperwen: Exactly. The project is supposed to show teens how hard it is to take care of babies. And it's just so hilarious...

Denise: ...ok, enough about the babies. Reader, please read and review. Esperwen knows she's a day late, but it's a long chapter, so don't get mad at her. Otherwise she'll stop writing and I'll die.


	9. Information Leak

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated with this awesome manga, fairly two-faced people, plans that make you busy, mom-powers, poor communication, self-inflicted rules (thank you, Gai), etc.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Information Leak**

Thursday afternoon, Hinata waited by her Parenting room's door, so that she could return her baby and see what score she got. Michelle was already inside, helping the next person get the reset baby ready.

_I hope I got a good mark,_ Hinata thought worriedly, _This project was extra credit, but I still wanted to do well..._

Just then, she heard two voices down the hallway mention Linda's name. Leaning against the wall behind her, Hinata realized that the two students talking sounded annoyed. She knew she probably shouldn't eavesdrop, but this was Linda; all the portal-users were supposed to be keeping an eye on her.

"Man...what's with Linda, anyway?" one girl grumbled.

"I hate how patronising she can get!" the second girl exclaimed.

"She's just a little bitch, honestly, hiding behind her older friends and boyfriend when she gets into trouble."

The two girls were walking past Hinata, now; she ducked her head down as if examining her baby, hoping that they wouldn't recognize her as one of Linda's acquaintances.

"They always take the blame, too! All the teachers love her! She's so annoying..."

"I know! And now she's going around, saying that she found a way into Konoha..."

Hinata's eyes widened upon hearing that. But...maybe she was hearing things? Hinata strained her ears so that she wouldn't miss a word.

"I realize she acts like a little kid, but now she's making up fantasy worlds...that's just too much, seriously."

Hinata relaxed a little when she heard this; they didn't believe Linda was telling the truth.

"Damn...she was all: 'I can get into Konoha and you can't'...I hate that!"

"Wish she would just roll over and die on all her money...stupid rich kids."

"It's probably some virtual reality thing. Her CEO father probably bought it for her."

"I know, but I still hate how she's acting."

The two girls started to move out of hearing range, and Hinata flinched when the door she was waiting beside opened; her attention having been on the two passing girls, Hinata hadn't noticed people about to leave the classroom.

"Your turn!" Michelle said cheerfully, but stopped when she saw Hinata's face, "...Hey, what's wrong?"

"Ano, nothing..."

"Are you sure?"

Rather than answering, Hinata waited until the person Michelle was helping left the room, then silently walked inside to return her simulated baby. Michelle pulled on a lock of hair, thinking, then quickly walked towards her locker to get her backpack and books. Track practice should have ended by then, so Shaun would be waiting for her. Michelle wanted to talk to Hinata, but after going home and dropping off her stuff, Michelle was supposed to be meeting up with Linda; maybe she could ask Kyle or Nat to check on Hinata for her.

And so our two heroines split up...

At Linda's home, Linda and Michelle were supposed to be doing homework. Michelle was supposed to be tutoring Linda with math; that was the story they had told their parents. In reality, they had started by having fun listening to music, then they ate the dinner that Linda's mother had prepared. Shortly after making fun of low quality anime for a good hour, both of them were playing the piano for each other; music was an interest they both shared.

"Sonatina in F major, opus 5," Linda grinned, holding her hands over the keys, then starting to play.

Michelle lay down on the nearby couch and simply listened. Fragments of scales, complicated chords, accidentals and sustained notes...Linda had a talent, and that was no mistake.

_This is why I'm still friends with Linda,_ Michelle thought, with a slight smile, _The moments where she grows up, even if it's just for a little while, and when I act a little more like a kid...it's so much fun, at times like these._

Linda played the finishing chord, and Michelle applauded quietly.

"I wish I could play like that," Michelle smiled, sounding envious.

"Well, my mom makes me practice for at least three hours every day," Linda said, shrugging, "It's a pain, but at least I sound good in the end."

"True," Michelle laughed, "I hate practicing! Not even for violin. That's why I really suck."

"Aw, you don't suck!" Linda shook her head, "Have you ever heard Daniel play piano? Now _that_ sucks. Just like everything else he does."

"...Shouldn't you _not _be saying that about your boyfriend?" Michelle raised an eyebrow, "I mean, I tease Shaun a lot, but..." her voice trailed off while she thought, _Saying Daniel sucks at everything he does is just a bit too much._

"He knows I'm kidding," Linda looked down to the side a little guiltily, "We still have fun...really."

When Linda looked up again, Michelle was staring at her, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I hate when you do that!" Linda screeched, pointing at Michelle accusingly.

"What're you talking about?" Michelle asked, gasping back a bark of laughter; Linda's randomly switching from a soft, repentant voice to a loud, accusing shriek was both startling and amusing.

"You're acting like a mom again!" Linda answered, starting to laugh.

"I just took care of a baby for two days; my mom-senses are still tingling," Michelle explained, laughing with her friend.

"You don't need to take care of _me_!" Linda exclaimed, putting a hand on her head and still laughing, "Honestly...!"

"Oi! Linda!"

Linda kept laughing to herself, but Michelle forced herself to calm down and sit properly. Linda's mother was at the doorway, holding a cordless telephone.

"Linda has a phone call," the woman explained, an annoyed expression on her face, "But she just laughs like a fool...Honestly! Linda!" the annoyed expression switched to almost angry when Linda continued laughing, "Look at me, girl!"

_That was nice,_ Michelle thought sarcastically, taking the phone from Linda's mother.

"Hey, Linda," Michelle waved the phone at her friend, "It's for you."

Linda took a few deep breaths to calm herself, then turned around and fiddled with something beside her while her mother left the room. Getting up, Michelle saw that there was another telephone near the piano; it had just been disconnected. Linda pressed the phone's setting to 'speaker', and immediately, Hinata's voice filled the room.

"Linda? Are you there?" Hinata asked, sounding a little unsure.

"Yeah," Linda answered cheerfully, "Michelle's here too."

"Hey," Michelle called across the room, thinking, _How many phones does this girl have?_

"Oh...okay..." Hinata hesitated, "Um...Linda...some people were talking about you in school, today."

"Oh, great," Linda rolled her eyes, "What are they mad at now?"

_Whoa. Sudden mood swing,_ Michelle blinked, _Now she's mad._

"They..." Hinata paused, then sighed, "Linda, you told people about Konoha?"

"Yeah," Linda shrugged uncaringly, "Wouldn't you?"

"Linda, that's against the rules!" Hinata exclaimed.

"All you guys said was that we couldn't take people across, right?" Linda argued, "Aren't we allowed to talk about it?"

"Talk about it to each other, as in just us travellers. Dude, you weren't listening!" Michelle groaned, slapping a palm to her forehead, "Right after we said 'no taking other people across', we also said, 'you can't tell anyone who isn't a portal user, either'! What exactly did she tell them, Hinata?"

"That she had found a way to Konoha, but they couldn't go," Hinata answered, someone reluctantly; she knew Michelle wouldn't react well to this.

"Linda! What were you thinking?" Michelle started waving her arms, "You were _bragging_ about the portals?"

"No...well...yes..." abruptly Linda stood up and glared at Michelle, "What's the big deal? So what if we tell people?"

"Um, if we tell, people might start following us," Hinata explained, with an upset tone of voice, "Just like...well...how you and Daniel did. Do you remember why we can't have too many people switching worlds?"

"Because..." Linda thought for a moment, "Um...something like, we don't know what we're doing with space and time, so the fewer people there are, there's less risk for the universe exploding."

"I said 'imploding' but that's close enough," Michelle sighed with relief, "You were paying attention to that part."

"But you can't tell anymore people," Hinata said sternly, "If anyone asks, tell them you were kidding, ok? We can't mess the dimensions up; that's why we're always so secretive about this."

"Ok, ok," Linda scowled, then after they said their goodbyes, Linda cut off the connection.

Michelle watched her friend for a moment; Linda didn't speak right after she ended her telephone's conversation. Instead, the younger girl sat at the piano bench and began playing a piece. It seemed as if Hinata hadn't even called; Linda acted as if her breaking of the portal-users' rules had been no big deal. Annoyed at how her junior was acting so carefree, Michelle turned around and started to leave the room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Linda asked, stopping her piano playing when she saw her friend go around a corner in the hallway.

"I...am trying not...to explode, right now," Michelle answered, and from the sounds Linda heard, she was packing up her backpack.

"Are you really that mad?" Linda asked, hurrying over and looking at the Grade 11 sadly.

"Don't give me that look," Michelle said, putting on her shoes, "I'm just..." Michelle groaned, "Yeah. I'm mad. I can't believe you told all those people!"

"Wouldn't you do it if you were in my place?" Linda defended, "You love Naruto's manga."

"I'm the one that suggested those rules," Michelle said, looking straight at Linda, upset, "Denise and I only stumbled upon that greenhouse. Corey and Mr. Stoica were following us for school stuff; they didn't know what they were getting into," Michelle pulled her backpack on and marched down the hallway, towards the front door, "All the ninja that came here simply wanted to know why we disappeared. Pauline wanted to know why we were so sad when we got back, Mr. Stoica wanted to talk about school, Corey was just wondering what we were doing, even you and Daniel didn't know what was going on. Other than that, Konoha was our secret."

"But...but you told Pauline about Konoha, remember?" Linda protested, finding a flaw in Michelle's reasoning, "So, you broke the rules too, and it isn't fair for you to be mad at me!"

"Back then, Denise and I didn't think we could ever get back to Konoha," Michelle said roughly, stopping where she was and remembering how upset she had been, "We didn't know how the portal worked, so we thought that we had lost our chance. I mean...I'll admit telling Pauline was a mistake, but luckily, things turned out for the better. For Kiba, anyway. Also, Pauline's like a sister to me, and Denise made her promise to tell nobody."

"So, if I make other people swear to secrecy-" Linda started.

"No, Linda, that's different," Michelle tried not to snap, continuing to walk, "I can't keep a secret from Pauline, likewise she doesn't keep anything from me. It's one thing to tell a close friend who we _know_ will be discreet. You, however, told people about Konoha to get attention. That's ridiculous, Linda!"

"But-"

"Don't start, Linda. It's one thing to stumble across that world by accident or without any choice. But if people actually aim for Konoha..." Michelle stopped at Linda's open front doorway, then looked back at her friend, "...So many bad things could happen to Naruto's world. That's why we set up our rules after the second time that we entered that other dimension. I'm the first one to see the greenhouse, and if anything went wrong...it would be my fault. I can't let that happen."

Linda's eyes teared up and she hurried to get a hug from her friend. She realized that what she had done was against the rules, and hey, why not get dramatic during her apology, too?

"Michelle, it's not your fault! I'll take the blame! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Linda cried, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Don't hate me! Don't go!"

_...this would be a lot more effective if she didn't do this like once every week,_ Michelle thought, but still, she opted to stay with Linda for another hour.

* * *

Esperwen: Sorry, gotta work on a project! At least I updated, right? 


	10. Many Kinds of Drama

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places, or themes affiliated, losing dares, two drama queens, believable jokes, high expectations for oneself, homeschooling, and many different kinds of drama.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Many Kinds of Drama**

"Today's the track meet!" Denise cheered, shaking her pompoms and keeping a smile pasted on her face, "Whoo! Team spirit!"

"...I know I've said this before, but it's scary how happy she looks when she cheers," Nat whispered to Kyle, on the other side of the field.

It was Friday, and all the portal-users in that school were outside, waiting for the annual inter-school track meet to begin. Nat, Kyle, and Shaun were at one end of the school's field, doing stretches and warm-ups. Denise was one of the cheerleaders (mainly because she had lost a dare in the beginning of the year), Hinata was one of the scorekeepers, and Michelle was helping out at the school nurse's table, in case there were any accidents. Since the track meet took place during school, Ionel Stoica was taking each of his classes out to watch and support their school, and Issac, Corey and Phil were somewhere on the bleachers, not because of school spirit, but because it was an excuse to get out of class. Linda and Daniel were also at the bleachers, sitting near Denise, so they spoke to her between her routines.

"Hey, Denise! Denise!"

Daniel cupped his hands around his mouth so that she might hear him better, while Linda waved. Denise turned, then sighed when she saw who it was, smiled slightly, and walked over to them.

"What's up?" she asked, with a small salute.

"You're doing really well," Linda said, laughing a little.

"Um, thanks?" Denise rubbed a temple, not really sure how to react; she didn't exactly _hate_ being a cheerleader, but she didn't enjoy it either.

"Yes, you're definitely looking good," Daniel teased, then promptly got punched by Denise, "Ow..."

"You're cheating on me with your eyes, aren't you?" Linda exclaimed.

"No, I'm-" Daniel winced when Linda punched his other arm, "Ow..."

"Whatever," Denise rolled her eyes and started walking back to her squad.

"Hey, you can't be rude to me!" Linda exclaimed, trying to be joky, "I'm your senior! In both worlds!"

Immediately, Denise ran over and clapped a hand over Linda's mouth. A few people sitting nearby looked at her funny or moved away warily, but other than that, nobody noticed, so she relaxed a little.

"I thought Hinata told you not to say anything about that?" Denise hissed into Linda's ear, not letting go of her mouth.

"Denise, lay off," Daniel started, but Denise shook her head angrily.

"We can't talk about that here, _sempai_," Denise whispered sarcastically into Linda's ear, "But just so you know, I don't believe you deserved to become a jounin. You still haven't learned when to shut up."

With that harsh truth, Denise released Linda and stomped away, not bothering to look back and see Linda's reaction. Linda blinked back tears, then let herself cry quietly; Daniel put an arm around her gently.

"She's been so mean this last week," Linda whimpered, wiping valiantly at her tears.

"I know," Daniel nodded, "I saw."

"I wish she'd notice how good I can be," Linda exclaimed, trying to stop from crying, "Her and Shino and Itachi...all of them! This isn't fair! They always pick on _me_!"

"I know," Daniel hugged his girlfriend, then glared at Denise from where he sat, "I know..."

Drama.

"Whoo! So many first place!" Michelle cheered, feeling a little hoarse, but not wanting to stop anyway; the medals and ribbons for winning and participating competitors were being handed out.

"Michelle, you're going to lose your voice," the school's nurse reprimanded, clapping primly while she sat.

"It's ok, Ms. Hamilton, I'll be fine," Michelle grinned, then started cheering again, "You guys rock! Whoo! Mad skills!"

Michelle blinked, then started rubbing her eye carefully; something had just landed in it.

"Are you all right, Michelle?" the nurse looked at her young volunteer, concerned.

"Uh, yeah," Michelle nodded, stepping away from the first aid table, "I'll be right back; there's something in my eye. Whoo, school spirit!"

The nurse watched Michelle walk towards the school, knowing that she meant to go to the washroom to flush the irritant out of her eye, and she shook her head. That's what happens when you get over-excited; stressful things happen.

_What is that?_ Michelle thought, hoping that her eye wasn't starting to turn red, _Ow! It's hard..._

Just as she got around the corner, out of sight of the other people, her eye immediately stopped hurting. Blinking a few times experimentally, she realized that small grains of sand were floating in front of her eyes. Abruptly, they dropped to the ground, and Michelle saw a thin trail of sand, leading to the far side of the school. Hoping this meant what she thought it meant, Michelle walked quickly, following the sand, trying not to gather attention to herself. Turning the corner, her eyes lit up when she saw it was exactly who she expected. The boy there looked her in the eye and nodded slightly.

"Gaara-kun!" Michelle whispered, then hurried forward with her arms out, a smile on her face.

However, just before she reached him, she slowed down and composed herself; Gaara-sama was not to be hugged. What was she thinking? Gaara-sama was to be bowed to, with peace offerings held out. ...well, maybe not that last part. Temari _had _told Michiko that during her first day in Suna, but it had been a joke. Michiko had half-believed Temari for a few seconds, but it had still been a joke.

"Hey," Michelle greeted shyly, nodding towards her friend, "Um..." she looked down, then back at the boy, "Hey."

The brown-haired boy wore a loose, brown coat that came down to his knees, dark brown turtleneck, brown cargo pants, and brown hiking boots. He had a black, spiked collar around his neck, and a blue bandanna tied to his left forearm.

"I found you, Mimi-okaa," Gaara murmured, very rare smile crossed his face, and he held out his arms to her.

"Gaara-kun...!" Michelle did her best not to get hysterical, and hurried to embrace her friend.

Happy drama. The good kind.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Nat bowed to the applauding bleachers, "I intend to go to the Olympics! Of course I got first place in the 500 meter run!"

Kyle elbowed Nat, half amused, but half importantly; he'd just heard one of the other contestants say Gaara's name.

"Listen," Kyle whispered.

"Gareth Sander is around here?" one boy said in a low voice, "No kidding?"

"I'm serious," the girl beside him nodded avidly, "My cousin's a Crip; he said that he'd be here today!"

"What the hell is he thinking?" the boy wondered, shocked, "This school is Blood's territory!"

"I know! And y'know that Isaac guy? He knows! And he's a Blood!"

"Did you hear that?" Kyle asked, turning to look at Nat.

Kyle blinked, then turned around in a full circle. Nat was nowhere to be seen.

Now it's FEAR drama!

"I was so worried about you!" Michelle exclaimed, touching the side of Gaara's face protectively, "Are you alright? Do you have a home? Are you eating ok?" _This has got to be the best day of my life! Shaun got first place in the javelin throw, Linda's been acting fairly maturely today, and now I get to hug Gaara! This never happens!_

"I'm fine..." Gaara stepped back, away from Michelle, embarrassed by this display of affection though his face was still a mask of calm.

"Did Naruto tell you everything? About how we have to go back Monday morning?" Michelle asked, leading him to a nearby bench, so they could sit down.

Gaara nodded, then said, "You'll need to show me how to get to Chinatown. I never go there."

"No problem; we'll just meet up next Monday morning. Oh, but..." Michelle looked at him apologetically, "Mr. Stoica can't wipe your attendance record. You'll have to skip just about every other Monday, except for first period."

"I teach myself at home," Gaara shrugged, "My relatives arranged a virtual program; everything's by computer."

"Oh. That's good," Michelle nodded vaguely, "I wish _I_ could do that..."

Now it's ok drama...

About an hour later, Shaun walked out of the boy's change room, showered and in fresh clothing. He slung his gym bag over his shoulder and trudged toward the hallway where all of the portal-users' lockers were. Michelle would be waiting for him, he knew, and he allowed himself a smile while he walked up the school stairs.

Exiting the stairwell, his smile vanished, and not just because he avoided publicly showing emotion. Looking ahead, he saw that Michelle was still on her way to the hallway; she was walking with someone. Normally, he wouldn't mind, but this time...it was Gaara.

_That guy...damn him..._

Shaun followed silently for a moment, then watched as Gareth said something quietly that made Michelle laugh, and she pushed him a little, affectionately. She never did that with Shaun. The former shinobi's grip on his bag tightened, and before he knew it, he was inbetween both of them, elbowing Gareth to the side. Gareth simply took a graceful step to regain his balance, and looked at Shaun with absolutely no expression; Shaun felt his temper go up, and he knew that he was frowning angrily at the other teen.

"Shaun!" Michelle tugged on his arm, an irritated look on her face, "What're you-"

The tall boy turned and scowled at Michelle; her face changed into a look of fear and she shrank away. Immediately, Shaun smoothed his face, but it was too late; he had already scared her.

_Dammit!_ Shaun turned and glared at Gareth again, _This is all your fault!_

Gareth simply stepped around Shaun to stand by Michelle; she was still looking at Shaun, with the same expression. Gareth touched Michelle's arm, but she flinched and stepped away.

_No...no, I didn't mean to..._Shaun started toward Michelle, but she looked down and shook her head

_Did it really look that bad?_ Michelle thought, hugging herself, _I didn't...I don't like Gaara that way! Shino-kun...it's so weird to explain...I barely understand it myself._

_Mimi-okaa..._Gareth put his hands in his coat pockets, but he still watched Michelle, his face betraying no secrets, _So...this is what you meant. As Shikamaru might say, how troublesome._

"NO!" a girl screamed, coming from the portal-users' hallway.

"Hinata?" Michelle's eyes widened, and she led Shaun and Gareth down the hall and around the corner, to where her locker was, "What...Oh my...!"

Michelle clapped her hands over her mouth when she saw what Hinata had found; Gareth only blinked, and Shaun took one look before he ran for a teacher.

Nat was leaning against the wall, blood flowing from his chest, stomach, legs...he'd been stabbed and also beaten, by the look of his off-coloured face and arms. Michelle hurried forward, ignoring the blood on the floor as she skidded to a stop and tried to help Nat; Hinata had already pulled off her blazer and was trying to stop Nat's torso from bleeding.

"...s'too late..." Nat wheezed, trying not to spray blood onto the two girls, "...Gaara...s'he ok?"

"Don't talk," Michelle said firmly, activating her healing jutsu, "And of course Gaara's fine. Why wouldn't he-"

Hinata put a now bloodied hand on Michelle's arm to get her attention, then pointed at something tied to Nat's arm. Michelle frowned when she saw it, then put her now-glowing hands onto Nat's wounds. She winced when the jutsu revealed to her just how serious the wounds were; whoever had attacked Nathan had definitely wanted to kill him. And they just might have succeeded; Michelle's healing jutsu was only very basic, and Nat's wounds were way beyond that.

"You tied a blue bandanna onto your left forearm," Michelle stated, more as a disbelieving fact than a question.

"My trademark," Gareth informed, standing back so that the girls could work undisturbed.

"You made a few...kills in my...old...neighbourhood," Nat wheezed, looking at his friend and smirking crookedly, "I...remembered...some of the...bodies...You tied a-"

"Nat, you idiot," Michelle groaned.

"They were...Bloods," Nat gasped, between coughs, "'N after Gaara..."

_I didn't ask for your help,_ Gareth thought, _I knew that people would come for me. I was prepared._

"...How many?" Gareth asked, finally, when no-one in the hallway spoke.

"...maybe...ten," Nat answered, after a moment of counting mentally.

_...Maybe back in Suna, but I couldn't handle that here,_ Gaara thought grudgingly, _Again, Naruto, I owe you._

Hinata's lip trembled, but she continued to hold her blazer on Nat, still hoping that the bleeding would stop. Nat looked at her closely, for the first time. He hadn't noticed the way that her emotions showed through her eyes; he saw pain.

"...Hinata-chan..."

Nat looked like he was about to say something, but he shook his head slightly instead. Michelle tried not to be disappointed; she was hoping he would say something nice to Hinata. Hinata looked down to the side, then touched Nat's arm gently.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata started to blush, and she stopped speaking before she said any more.

_The main character of one of the world's most popular manga and anime could be dying, and there isn't even a really good fluff moment?! This is communism! Or something,_ Michelle thought, trying to divert her thoughts away from her frustration at studying medical techniques in a foreign country for over half a year, and yet not being able to help Nathan at all.

Gareth continued to stand guard over the three teens; the gang members may come back to check on Nat, but this time, he was ready. Still, he hoped that Shaun would hurry with help; Nat couldn't hold on for much longer.

This drama makes me angry. ...and sad. But mostly angry.

Pauline woke up that Saturday morning, and found herself in a sleeping bag on the floor in Michelle's bedroom, true to their weekly tradition of sleeping over at the other's house. She sat up quickly and looked at her cousin, concerned. Hearing her moving, Michelle rolled over and faced Pauline; the younger girl saw that Michelle's eyes were swollen. Looking at her cousin, Michelle saw a similar problem with Pauline's eyes.

"Hey," Michelle smiled weakly, slipping out of the bed and sitting in front of Pauline.

"G'morning," Pauline greeted back, "Um...are you okay?"

Michelle thought back to the night before; late last night, they had gotten a call from Kyle. Nat hadn't lasted very long, even with Michelle's healing jutsu and hospital's help. The two cousins had been almost synchronized: Pauline had cried as soon as the call had finished, and when she had calmed down, the reality of it all finally struck Michelle, and she broke down. Then, once Michelle got a grip on herself, Pauline would start crying again, then Michelle...They had scared Dragan, for a little while.

"I'm a little better," Michelle answered slowly, "You?"

"I could be worse..." Pauline smiled.

She did well for a moment, but then her eyes welled up and she dropped her head into her hands. Michelle hurried to comfort her cousin, but Pauline's next question hit her hard.

"Michi, what do we do? Naruto _died_! What's going to happen to the other world, now?"

* * *

Michiko: I...I lost a patient?

Deniizu: Naruto dying is a bad thing, right?

Korii: Yeah, that can't be good.

Michiko: I can't believe...I lost a patient! With medical jutsu!

Deniizu: This is so weird...

Korii: And what's with all the drama stuff...?

Deniizu: Esperwen, why would you kill the MAIN CHARACTER?

Michiko: Medical jutsu's supposed to be magical!

Korii: This is supposed to be a humour fic!

Esperwen: Ah-ah-ah. It's 'general/humour'. And with this death, we learn more about portals. Ok? Ok. Good, ok.

Michiko: My patient died...

Deniizu: Nobody cares about your stupid patient. Even if it is the MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER!

Korii: Um...reader, please review.


	11. Sunday Afternoon at Shaun's

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places, or themes affiliated, tense music practice, awkward battles that are somewhat out of character and anticlimactic, cheesy dance-offs, harmless but still scary stalkers, MapQuest, being annoyed with your significant other, being annoyed with your best friend, acting protective, etc. etc.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Sunday Afternoon at Shaun's**

Though Corey, Denise, and Michelle's band had been fake, the former ninja's group had actually gotten off rather well. When Sunday finally rolled around, Isaac, Hinata, Shaun and Kyle all gathered in Shaun's basement; since Nat and Kyle had known each other since they were kids, and Nat had been in the band, they would be playing one song for Nat's funeral, with Corey as their replacement drummer.

About an hour into practic, Hinata put her usual instrument down and tuned her viola moodily; she would play that instrument, instead of the bass guitar, for the funeral reception's song. From the dark circles under her eyes, all the teens knew that she hadn't been sleeping properly in the last couple nights. And from the looks that she kept throwing at Isaac throughout practice, who was a Blood gang member, it was no secret why she was so exhausted. She was sitting on a box at one side of the room, and Isaac was on the other, but of course Isaac missed nothing.

"You glanced at me again," Isaac said bluntly, just as Hinata went back to fiddling with her viola.

"...And?" Hinata asked, just as bluntly, glaring full on at the older boy.

_Whoa..._Kyle gripped his microphone a little more tightly, _Hinata's mad and showing it...The world is ending._

_Naruto isn't here to hold her back, and Isaac doesn't have the power to scare her into her shell in this world,_ Shaun thought, then after a second changed his opinion, _No. Hinata _is_ afraid of Isaac. But Hinata views Isaac as the enemy now. Because Nat is gone. She's learning how to push her fear to the side, but Nat's death is spurring her anger forward, as well._

"...Is there a problem?" Isaac asked, sitting aloof behind his keyboard.

"Did you tell those Bloods that Gareth was at the school?" Hinata countered, her soft voice filled with quiet venom.

Isaac looked at her appraisingly, then yawned. He didn't answer.

_Ah...so she does have a powerful side,_ he thought, finding a new thing to toy with.

"...Did you?" Hinata asked again, gripping her viola bow, keeping a tight rein on her anger.

Isaac stared at her again, then rolled his eyes. Leaning back against the wall behind him, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"No," he answered, his voice completely void of emotion, "I didn't know Gareth would be there."

"Then what happened?" Hinata asked coldly, "Ten Bloods killed Nat. Explain that away."

"What?" Isaac smirked, looking at the 16-year-old with slitted eyes, "Don't believe me?"

"Not in the slightest," Hinata answered, still with the same tone, "I want to know what really happened yesterday."

"...Do you?" Isaac looked up at the basement ceiling for a moment, then shrugged slightly, "Do you know how to improvise, Hinata?"

Hinata blinked, surprised at the sudden change of subject, then stood up and nodded once, her viola in one hand, and the bow in the other.

_A kunoichi, ready to do battle,_ Shaun thought approvingly, _She leaves Deniizu far behind, mentally._

"A music battle?" Corey choked back a laugh, "Right..."

"Impress me, Hinata," Isaac said quietly, turning the keyboard on and running his fingers over the keys, lightly, "Then I'll tell you. If not, then you leave my gang alone."

"Fine," Hinata whipped her bow through the air in two circles, remembering its weight, then put it to her viola's strings lightly, not making a sound, "Once verse and chorus from _Wind_, and then we alternate, you, then me."

The doorbell upstairs was heard, but only Shaun payed any attention to it; as the tall 16-year-old began climbing the stairs, Isaac's voice was the last Shaun heard.

"Let us begin."

(What Kiba is wondering: "Is Isaac really serious, here?")

_Battles happen in many different ways,_ Shaun thought, shaking his head slightly, _Physical fights, musical improvisation, and then there are the cheesy dance-offs that only happen in movies._

The doorbell sounded again, and Shaun looked out the peephole to see who was at the front door. Then promptly paled, turned the lock, threw the two deadbolts and put up the door's chain.

_Shit! Shit, shit, shit!_ Shaun thought, leaning back against the door and thinking that same word over and over again.

He looked right, and realized that the person at the front door might see him through the living room windows, so sneaking out of the house and running was not an option, since he needed to pass through the living room to get to the back door. He could escape by one of the kitchen windows on the left, but that would make too much noise; the person outside would notice the noise and probably come running. He could also go into the basement and climb out by the cellar hatch at the back, but even if he did get out, he didn't have anywhere to go. He needed to scare away the person outside, without overdoing it by using his bugs, or anything that would call attention to special ninja powers.

_Think!_ the 17-year-old thought irritably, _It is only one person! They are not even a ninja! You can outthink them! ...Nobody downstairs will want to help; they're busy with that improv battle...Maybe, someone could enter the house._

Shaun almost jumped a foot in the air when the doorbell rang again. Taking a deep breath, he affected his inner calm again, now that the initial shock had worn off. After another moment's thought, he reached around the corner, into the living room, and took the phone that was in the window's blind spot. Thankful that the phone line was long enough, he backed into the nearby kitchen, staying out of sight of whoever it was outside, then put the telephone on the floor beside him, lifted the receiver, and quickly dialed a phone number. He was tempted to call the police for a restraining order, but when the authorities would arrive, they would simply laugh, then leave. The person outside wasn't really a threat; they simply set Shaun's nerves on edge, in a completely unpleasant way.

Finally, after five rings, a girl picked up the telephone.

"...Hello?"

Shaun suppressed a sigh and mentally kicked himself when he heard the phone pick up; he was overreacting, and he knew it. Maybe because if this happened in Konoha, he could always just send his kikaichu out to attack. In this world, there was very little Shaun could do.

"Hey. Michelle?" Shaun said in a low voice, tiptoeing as far away from the front door as the phone line allowed.

"Shaun? What's up?" Michelle had a slightly panicked tone, "I haven't heard from you since Friday! How're you!? What's new!?"

"I'm all ri-" Shaun started.

"IfthisisaboutwhathappenedtheotherdaywithGarethIcanexplain!" Michelle said in one breath, "Butnotnow!Sorry!Hardtoexplain!IhavetofeedPauline!Bye!"

_**Click!**_

After hearing a short silence, followed by a dial tone, Shaun sweatdropped, then looked at the receiver in his hand mutely.

_She just hung up on me...!_ Shaun thought indignantly, _What...oh, she mentioned Gaara. I wasn't even thinking that. Jeez..._

Shaun hit the redial button, then waited this time for just three rings before Michelle picked up again.

"...Hello?" her voice sounded sheepish.

"It's me again," Shaun said dully, "This has nothing to do with Gaara," he added, when he heard Michelle breath in deeply, probably preparing for another long string of speech.

"It doesn't?" Michelle sounded shocked, then after an awkward pause, she sounded normal again, "Oh. So...what's up?"

"I need your help," Shaun answered, now sounding formal.

"You? Need help?" Michelle sounded more than shocked, now; she was incredulous, "Since when?"

"Since five minutes ago. It..." Shaun hesitated, then swallowed his pride and said in a resigned tone, "Mika's at my front door."

There was yet another moment of silence. At first, Shaun thought she was trying to think of a solution, but then he realized that there was speech on the other end of the phone line. Straining his ears, he realized that she had put her hand over the mouthpiece on her receiver; there were two girl's voices, then laughter, and Shaun put two and two together.

"Are you telling Pauline?" Shaun asked, still keeping his voice down, but his surprise was still evident.

"I..." Michelle stifled a giggle, then she took her hand away from the mouthpiece and spoke again, "What?"

"You're _laughing _at me?"

"N-no!" Chuckle.

"I heard something just now!"

"You heard-" Giggle. "Wrong."

At least two nerves popped on Shaun's forehead; he had been looking for sympathy and help, not ridicule. Michiko and Hinata were usually the only ones who would give it; Hinata was downstairs playing viola, and this was Michiko's reaction.

"...Are you going to help me, or what?" Shaun asked, when Michelle had gotten control of herself.

"Totally," Michelle was serious again, "I just, heh...ahem, sorry. What do you need?"

And so ten minutes passed...(Now Kiba is thinking: "OMG, Isaac _was _serious!"

Mika rang the doorbell for the sixth time, and smiled when the doorknob turned, this time. She checked the pin that held her bangs back, preening herself for her big moment. Shaun had been hiding from her all year, but this time, she had him! Months of helping out in the school's office had finally paid off; just the other night, she had gotten a chance to enter into the students' files, and had found Shaun Anderson's address. A few hours on MapQuest had granted her directions. And here she was, ready to claim her prize.

_Michelle's got nothing on me,_ Mika thought triumphantly, _She probably has no idea where he lives. But look at me! I'm standing on his doorstep!_

The door started to open, and Mika laughed to herself silently. At last, he couldn't run away! At last, she'd caught him! At last...!

"Mika?" Michelle blinked in a surprised manner, which was fake, but Mika didn't notice.

"M-mich...Michelle?" Mika squeaked, suddenly very, very confused, "Isn't...this..."

"Um...Shaun's house?" Michelle raised an exaggerated eyebrow, "Yeah, this is where my _boyfriend_ lives. Why?"

"Michelle, what's taking you..." a voice came from within the house.

Shaun came into view and put his arms around Michelle's waist, from behind. To both girl's surprise, he nuzzled Michelle's neck slightly before he 'noticed' Mika on his doorstep.

_Shaun! _Michelle thought, stunned, _Look who's not being discreet about our relationship _now.

"Mika," Shaun nodded, quickly releasing Michelle and stepping to the side, "What brings you here?"

_What, indeed,_ Mike thought, feeling completely out of place, _I didn't know their relationship was serious, I mean, they never even hold hands or anything in school._

"Our, um...math homework!" Mika answered loudly after a slight pause, then remembered that they were in different math classes, "I mean, um, for...English! What do we have for English? ...yeah..."

Shaun laughed on the inside; this was his petty revenge for the unnecessary stress that Mika had caused him at school. Ever since they had met, Mika had been constantly trying to display affection for Shaun; she had memorized his timetable so that she could follow him around the school between classes, and the only reason she hadn't found Shaun's house sooner, was because Phil was there to intervene. For a reason that Phil hadn't revealed, Mika was terrified of him; after school, Phil would scare Mika away so that Shaun could go home in peace, without a mini second shadow.

Michelle also tried to help by being around Shaun whenever possible; even Mika got a guilt trip when she remembered that Michelle and Shaun were dating, so when Michelle was nearby, Mika stayed away. Mika and Michelle used to be close friends when they were younger, but as time went by, they grew away from each other. Now, small talk was all they ever shared, but the memory of their friendship was still there. Michelle wouldn't let any gossip about Mika spread, and Mika always snapped at someone if they looked down on Michelle.

"Um...Mika, you're in _my_ English class. Not Shaun's," Michelle said hesitantly.

Mika felt her face turning red, but she pretended nothing was wrong.

"Well...still! I forgot my planner at the school, so I don't know what's due tomorrow!" Mika said, her voice going a few pitches higher.

"Everyone's personal essays are due on Thursday, no matter what class they are in," Shaun said calmly, keeping a stern gaze on Mika, "...Is that all?"

"I, uh, yeah!" Mika nodded avidly, "That's-"

Before Mika could finish, Shaun nudged the front door with his foot, causing it to slam right in front of Mika's face. Michelle clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, then peeked around the corner to look out the front window. Mika kept standing there for a moment, stunned, before she stomped a foot angrily and stormed down Shaun's driveway, and down the sidewalk.

"...whoa," Michelle breathed, then looked at Shaun, a mock-serious expression on her face, "That was cold."

"I didn't see you grab the door before it closed," Shaun pointed out, the trace of a smile on his face.

Michelle didn't have an answer for that, and she let herself smile.

"Have you thought about getting a restraining order?" Michelle asked, checking out the window and thinking, _Aw...poor Mika._

"Not seriously until today," Shaun admitted, and allowed Michelle to punch his arm.

Michelle sat on the living room couch, watching Mika through the window. She felt a little guilty about brushing off her old friend like that, but after seeing the fearless Shino in such a state...Shaun joined Michelle at the window, and Michelle patted his arm gently.

"It's ok, Shino-chan," Michelle cooed, a wry smile on her face, "The big, bad Mika's gone. You're safe now."

Shaun gave her a disgusted look, and Michelle laughed outright. She threw her arms around him and hugged tightly; Shaun let his arms wrap around her slim waist, but since he didn't hug back like usual, Michelle knew he was still annoyed with her.

"It's fun to tease you," Michelle chuckled into the front of his shirt, "I mean, Mika's like half your size. Maybe even just a third."

She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling mischieviously, and Shino couldn't help but smile a little.

_She's just so cute..._he thought, not thinking and letting his forehead and nose touch with hers.

"Thanks for helping," Shaun said quietly, his grip around her waist tightening slightly.

"No problem," Michelle whispered, thinking, _Who wouldn't jump over a fence and sneak in through their basement for their boyfriend? That's completely normal. Not._

"I appreciate it," Shaun added, leaning forward slowly.

_...I love it when you open up,_ Michelle thought, closing her eyes, _...wait!_

Shaun stopped moving forward when he felt Michelle flinch. He leaned back and looked at her, suppressing his annoyance dutifully. Michelle winced, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that Shaun was giving her one of his many serious looks. This one seemed to read as, "Damn. What's wrong now?"

"...it's nothing..." Michelle mumbled, looking down.

"...Gaara?" Shaun asked, tucking a few of Michelle's stray hairs behind her ear; the harsh tone and gentle gesture were so strange together.

"No," Michelle said firmly, shaking her head and meeting his gaze, "Gaara's...complicated. It...you're gonna be engaged and I...Gaara...I just-"

Shaun refrained from pushing Michelle away in annoyance or sighing out loud. He was holding her; that was already showing more emotion than he should. Maybe he should just pull his arms away. Michelle felt Shaun's arms tense up; she could tell that he was upset.

"Please don't blame Gaara-" Michelle started, at the same time that Shaun said, "That engagement problem doesn't matter here-" but both of them were interrupted.

"Shino! The hell's taking you so long?" Kiba yelled, stomping his feet as he ran up the basement's stairs, "Michi-chan, you too!"

Shaun muttered a curse through gritted teeth as the former dog-user ran around the corner, into the living room, and waved his arms expressively.

"You should've heard that! Hinata's viola was just...gaaah! And Itachi, when, there was this chord transition that he did and...AAAGH! It's just insane!" Kiba exclaimed, almost pulling his hair out, and looking rather insane himself, "There was a key change, guys! A _key change_! You guys don't know what you just missed! Why didn't you come downstairs?"

While he had been speaking, Shino and Michiko had shared a look, then silently turned around to face Kiba. Now, the latter realized that Shino and Michiko were holding hands, and both were looking at him pointedly.

"I...aw, crap," Kiba slapped a palm to his forehead, "Did I do that again?"

Shaun kept glaring and Michelle nodded and sighed, thinking, _Why is it always Kiba? Why!?_

"I...listen, I'm sorry. But you seriously should have listened to them!" Kyle insisted, sitting down in one of the armchairs by the doorway, "Do either of you have any idea how hard improvising a key change is, or how hard it is to _follow_? That was so cool!"

A few moments passed. Michelle could sense that an argument was coming, and she was suddenly intent on examining a clock. Kyle sniffed the air slightly, noticing that there was a foreboding, if familiar, aura coming off of Shaun; coming into this world, he still had that keen sense of smell. Shaun sat up straighter, if that were possible; Michelle tried to suppress a sigh, and quickly thought of something that might distract her two friends from fighting with each other.

"Um..." Michelle coughed politely, trying to keep the room's mood light, "Who won the improv contest?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Kyle scratched the back of his head for a moment, "Well...technically, Itachi won. Hinata-chan's hand cramped up and she had to stop playing, which is ok, because some of the stuff she was playing seriously stretched her hand out. But I think Itachi was still impressed; he told Hinata that someone tipped their gang off about Gareth Friday morning. Itachi had no idea that Gaara was going to be at the school that day, since they got the message after Itachi had already left for school, so that kid Nat and I overheard that said Isaac knew about Gareth had been lying."

Movement in the hallway caught both Michelle and Shaun's eyes, and when Michelle stood up quickly, Kyle turned around to see who was there. Isaac was standing in the small foyer, getting his shoes, ready to leave now that practice was over. Gently breaking Shaun's hold on her hand, Michelle moved to stand between the front door and Isaac, preventing him from leaving. The older teen looked at Michelle, as if forced to acknowledge her existance, now that she was in his way.

"Are you going to tell your gang what Gareth looks like, now?" Michelle asked evenly, clenching her hands to keep them from shaking. She may have gotten used to seeing Itachi every day, but his reputation and piercing stares still scared her.

"Hn," Isaac smirked, looking too much like his younger, otherworld brother, "Think trash like you can stop me?"

Michelle's temper spiked up for a moment, but she closed her eyes to crush it back down, knowing she had to be perfectly calm when dealing with Isaac. Shaun had stood up when Isaac had spoken, but Kyle quickly grabbed his sleeve to prevent him from intervening; the ex-dog-user knew that Michelle wanted to handle this alone.

"Give her a break," Kyle whispered to Shaun in a low voice, "She's a ninja too."

_Both of you are still genin, _Shaun thought, but he kept in to himself and stayed at ease.

"If I have to," Michelle said in a low voice, her eyes suddenly snapping open and fixing Isaac with an angry glare, "I'll at least try."

_...Well,_ Isaac thought, examining Michelle closely for the first time, while keeping his face smooth, _The innocent pup bares its teeth after all. Anything for another whelp like itself._

"...That's none of your concern," Isaac answered after a moment.

Without another word, the dark-haired boy reached out and shoved Michelle roughly to the side with one arm. Michelle managed to maneuver herself and only thudded against the wall with her shoulder, instead of her head, which seemed to be Isaac's intent. Silently, Isaac stepped around her, adjusted the keyboard that was encased and strapped to his back, then left the house. Wincing slightly, Michelle rolled her blue t-shirt's sleeve up and examined her shoulder; Shaun and Kyle could already a bruise forming.

"Damn," Kyle breathed, looking out the living room window while Shaun went to get an ice pack for Michelle, "I hate to see what he's like around Denise's enemies..."

_Ok, let's think,_ Michelle mused, massaging her arm a little, _If he was going to tell his gang, he would have said so and then walked down the driveway cackling evilly to himself. Or something along those lines. But, he didn't, so for all intents and purposes, let's assume that he'll stay quiet. ...what was I thinking, challenging the Uchiha Itachi like that?!_

_

* * *

_Esperwen: Sorry! I was busy yesterday! I had stuff to do, so I didnèt have chance to post! SORRY! And also...you guys should check my profile, scroll down, and read the "Current works" section. Thereès some stuff that you should know about the Portal series, and my other fanfiction projects. And why is the apostrophe key typing è insteadÉ And the question marks! This is so dumb!


	12. Gaara and Michiko

DISCLAIMER: Own Naruto we do not. This form of speech, we own not either.

Kiba: ...Would Yoda actually say something like that?

Esperwen: Own Star Wars, we do not claim. And Samurai Jack, we also do not own.

Kiba: Stop that...

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Gaara and Michiko**

That Monday morning, Pauline, Shaun, Gareth and Michelle all got onto the same subway car together. Gareth had called that morning, and he and Michelle had made plans that all of them would meet at the bus station before taking the subway to Chinatown. Pauline bounced her legs eagerly, examining the 'new' Gaara that was sitting beside her, but Shaun was not so enthusiastic. Across the aisle, with his arm 'casually' resting on the back of Michelle's seat, he watched Gareth warily; Michelle knew what he was thinking.

"Gaara-kun, you know that I'm dating Shino-kun in this world, right?" Michelle asked quietly, looking at Gareth, but really watching Shaun in the corners of her eyes.

Gareth nodded mutely, and this time Shaun moved his arm from the seat, to Michelle's shoulders.

_Great. He's getting possessive,_ Michelle thought, inwardly rolling her eyes.

_Gaara's sitting beside me!_ Pauline thought, the conversation beside her not really registering in her mind, _And he's not killing me! This is sooo cool!_

"...Think you can explain to him how things are, you know, between us...?" Michelle prompted, giving her friend a pleading look.

Gareth stared at Michelle for a few minutes; she was asking _him, _the silent killer of the Hidden Sand, to give an explanation. Unfortunately, Michelle didn't back down, so Gareth gave a barely perceptible sigh and nodded.

Back to the past, back to the past...(Samurai Jack...Jack...Jack Jack...oops, sorry, got distracted)

During one of Michiko's months in Suna, just after she had adopted Saneijin, Gaara had been walking around the village, trying to find a new place to train. His techniques often left the landscape looking very different than what it used to be; he needed to change locations every month or so. But that evening, he came across Michiko's training ground.

The black-haired girl seemed to have blacked out while training. Saneijin and three of her dogs were nowhere to be seen; Gaara guessed that she had made them go back to their kennel before she trained herself. Athos, the last dog left, had probably talked Michiko into letting him stay with her. He always did, every chance he got; Athos still remembered when Michiko and Shino had rescued him and his brothers when they were small. The brown dog was sitting beside Michiko's sleeping form, and his tail thumped against the ground when he saw Gaara coming; both had become good friends over the past few months.

"Athos," Gaara greeted, kneeling down and gently petting the dog's head, "...She tried too hard?"

Athos wuffed his answer; whenever she felt more energized with chakra, she always tried to train it off, and this time, she had miscalculated her chakra usage. She would wake up eventually; she never made drastic mistakes, so it wasn't likely that she was in a coma, but it would still take a lot to wake her up. Suddenly, both genin and dog heard a short, muffled yelp, then a whine. Looking over to the source of the sounds, they realized it was Michiko.

_She understands _and_ speaks dog,_ Gaara realized, while Athos moved to be beside his human, _Whether she's awake or not...the Inuzuka did right to adopt her._

Athos sniffed Michiko, concernedly; she'd been having nightmares lately, and this sounded like another one coming on. But she had told all four of the pack not to wake her up if it happened again; the best way to deal with bad dreams was to overcome them, not run from them.

"...Pauline..." she murmured, her arms coming up in front of her, as if shielding herself, "Please...you've become Gorgon...!"

_Gorgon?_ Gaara thought, _What is she talking about? Maybe...another Jinchuuriki?_

_Maybe waking her up this time would be ok,_ Athos thought worriedly, _She might be embarrassed when she wakes up; she's outside, after all._

"...Hina-chan, please believe us...!" Michiko said, still sleeping, still quietly, but now tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes, "...he sees you...just wait...!"

_What _is_ she talking about?_ Gaara thought, feeling confused.

_Is she talking about Naruto, or Hinata's dad?_ Athos thought, sitting down beside his human.

"...hey...hey..." Michiko's voice suddenly was yelling, "NO, DON'T TOUCH HER! DENIIZU!"

With a bloodcurdling scream, Michiko sat bolt upright, completely awake now, but still babbling.

"Deniizu!" Michiko gasped, holding her head in her hands, trying to stop herself from trembling, "Pooriin! You guys, I'm so sorry!"

Michiko burst into tears, and Athos hurriedly tried to calm her down, nuzzling her arms and face whenever he could. Gaara was at a loss; he'd never seen anyone cry like that before. In fact, he had never seen such an open display of any emotion, other than hate or anger, before. His sand had risen into an uneven, gapped wall around him, but he wasn't sure if it was to protect himself or help the girl in front of him.

"Athos, I couldn't help them," Michiko whimpered, burying her face into her dog's fur.

"...?" Gaara shook his head; prodigies of powerful bloodline limits, he could handle. Hysterical, crying girls that just came out of a nightmare...not so much.

Athos looked up at the Sand shinobi for help, but Gaara had nothing to offer. At first glance, Athos thought Gaara looked like he didn't care about Michiko, but after a few sniffs, Athos caught a trace of concern. Gaara knew he should do something for this girl, but he didn't know what. And he definitely had no idea what Naruto would do in his place.

"Hey, what's going on up there?"

Two Sand shinobi jumped into the sandy expanse, and saw an unusual sight. Michiko didn't look up, still sitting on the ground but having realized that other people were around her. She felt completely stupid about her tears but was still unable to stop them; the best she could do was muffle whimpers.

_Shino would be so annoyed with me if he were here,_ Michiko thought, upset with herself because of that fact, _...I still haven't grown up..._

Gaara looked at the two ninja, a slightly (very slightly) surprised look on his face. And Athos was growling, his fur bristling; two strange ninja had randomly intruded on one of his human's more vulnerable moments, and he didn't like it.

"What have you done?" one shinobi exclaimed, while the other was already making handseals, "Dammit, Gaara! Your brother and sister said you'd changed, but look at what you're doing!"

"The bastard's gotten worse," the other shinobi grumbled, still making seals; the jutsu was going to be very complicated.

Blinking, Gaara realized just how suspicious he must look, with his sand everywhere, and Michiko still crying. Turning just his eyes towards the girl, he tried to will her to get up, just by looking at her, but he of all people knew just how hard it was to stop from crying like that.

"I haven't done anything-" Gaara started in a dull tone, but that was as far as he got.

The second shinobi interrupted him with the full force of a high-quality earth jutsu; rock rose from the sand around them, and began pelting Gaara at every angle. Athos howled long and loud, pausing only to grab the back of Michiko's shirt and pull her to the side, out of the way of one boulder, before howling again.

"Omigosh! Athos...?" Michiko started to ask, startled; her dream was still taking time to fade, but now she realized the danger around her, _I'm such a genin! How did I _not_ sense all of this? I'm supposed to have awesome, cool elemental senses like Firu!_

They thought Gaara was attacking you, Athos answered, while both of them jumped to avoid another boulder.

"...Gaara again?" Michiko asked, more to herself than Athos, "...did you call for the others, yet?"

The first chance I got, the large dog answered, meaning his howling, Why?

"...can you howl something to the others for me?"

"What's that noise?" the second ninja asked, while the first one began to barrage Gaara with an air-based technique, "Did I hit the dog?"

Gaara stood quietly, his sand in a protective 'shell' around him as usual. That earth-element technique was powerful, but clumsy against Gaara's ultimate defence.

"Like I care," the young man huffed, "I hate the stupid animals."

'Stupid', you say? Aramis snarled, jumping up and tackling the ninja into the dirt with D'Artagnan, holding him to the ground.

"How'd _those_ get here?" the second shinobi asked, surprised, shortly before getting tackled by Porthos from behind.

"Tch. They ran. Duh," Michiko answered, a smile on her face as she stepped forward, Athos right beside her, "Boys, let them up."

"Are you all right, miss?" the first shinobi asked, holding out a hand either for her to shake, or to check her and make sure for himself.

"Actually, no..." Michiko looked vulnerable and sad for a moment, waiting so that the first shinobi moved closer to her, then her expression changed to a frown and she slapped his arm away with the back of her right hand. With the same turning movement she slugged him right across the jaw with her left arm, strong enough that he stumbled, "But now I am!"

"What the...?" the second shinobi stammered, then growled, "What is wrong with-"

"You want one too?" Michiko asked, an ominous look on her face while she held up her fist threateningly.

The second shinobi shrank back, and Michiko, satisfied, turned to check on Gaara. Just as she expected, he was all right. He was even starting to change the giant rocks into sand, in order to get them out of the way, but she was glad to see he was safe anyway.

"OW!" the punched shinobi exclaimed, then narrowed his eyes when he got his balance and stomped forward, shoving his face right into Michiko's personal space, "What the hell was that for?"

"Why'd you attack Gaara-san like that?" Michiko snapped back, "He wasn't doing anything wrong!"

"But...you were crying just a minute ago-" the ninja started, confused.

"Yeah, well it wasn't because of Gaara-san! What's wrong with you people? Just because Gaara-san happened to be there, you automatically assumed that he was causing trouble! You're all total creeps!" Michiko growled, looking completely disgusted with the both of them, "Temari-chan and Kankurou were telling the truth when they said Gaara-san changed! So stop picking on him!"

"Well...s-sorry, miss-" the second shinobi stammered.

"No," Michiko interrupted, silencing him by raising a hand, "I don't want to hear your excuses. Just leave. ...Go on!" she added, when neither moved for a moment.

Both of the shinobi looked sheepish, and the four dogs couldn't help but hear them talking with each other as they walked away from Michiko's training field.

"Geez...some chuunin we are..."

"Yeah, we're afraid of this little girl because she's so much like a mom."

"But still...she's a scary mom."

"No shit..."

When the two chuunin had left, Michiko covered her face in her hands and sighed. None of that had been necessary, and she knew it. Feeling a bit of sand brush her shoulder, Michiko turned around, and saw that Gaara was just behind her.

"...Why?" the boy asked quietly, thinking, _I didn't need the help..._

Michiko watched the two Sand ninja retreat for a moment, then turned back and smiled at the boy; one of the few that Gaara had ever received.

"I guess I'm just foolish," Michiko answered, "My friends say I have a total mother complex, and I guess they're right."

Gaara looked at her solemnly, then, looking up at the night sky, "...I've never had a real mother..." _My biological mother hated me._

Michiko blinked, then stammered, completely thrown off balance, "Hey, what? You...the...what?"

"But..." Gaara continued, either ignoring or completely unaware of her reaction, "Doesn't being a mother just mean that she has children?"

"Well...yeah, sorta..." Michiko answered, her brain still whizzing in surprise, "But she's supposed to...y'know, take care of them; try to do what's best for them, too, whether they want it or not, I guess...And she protects them, even if they don't really need it. A perfect mother would, anyway."

"So...the child doesn't need to be strong around her?" Gaara asked seriously.

Michiko couldn't help but just look at him for a moment. This was Gaara. _The_ Gaara of the Sand. And...he sounded like...like a little kid.

But then again...he'd never really had much of a childhood. Maybe the 'kid attitude' was a second childhood for him...?

"_I_ think so," Michiko nodded, "Well...in a perfect scenario, anyway."

_She has no idea what she's walking into,_ Athos thought, smiling inwardly, _But then again, she wanted a close friend._

The boy looked around, to the left, right, and behind himself, checking to make sure that nobody was around other than Michiko and the four dogs, before he spoke again.

"...can you be my mother?" Gaara asked, suddenly sounding and looking completely vulnerable.

Michiko stared. There wasn't anything else for it; she had to stare at him.

"...P-pardon?"

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Just a little!" Michiko's voice squeaked, then she took a deep breath and calmed down, "It's just...I mean...a mother isn't the only type of person you can be completely open with. Sometimes, friends would be better." _THISISWEIRD!THISISWEIRD!THISISWEIRD!THISISWEIRD!_

"...Friends are common," Gaara said bluntly, looking up at the moon, "...You can only have one mother."

Michiko looked down at the boy. He really did look very young, standing there all alone. Why not? It was only wrong and awkward on, oh...fifty levels. No big deal.

"Gaara-san..." Michiko clenched, then unclenched her hands, trying to find words to say, "It would be great if I _could_ do that. But...I'm not old enough to make acting like your mom look even reasonable. I'm not even that strong; you're the one who should be protecting me. I'd really like to be your friend, though...they're not as common as you think, you know."

The boy gave Michiko one long, unreadable look, until Michiko felt uncomfortable; those were two extremely deep, green eyes. Finally, she sighed reluctantly; she couldn't say 'no' to Gaara of the Hidden Sand. Especially after learning about his past and all he'd been through.

"Ok, _fine_," she said, nodding once, "But this is just between us. And maybe Shino. And my family. But _that's all!_ People in this village think I'm weird enough."

_...It's not the title he wants, is it?_ Michiko thought, following Gaara's gaze on the moon, _It's the closeness. He's always had to deal with things alone...I guess he's just glad I stepped in for him with those two ninja. But...at least I've got that friend I wanted. Still, that's got to be the most awkward moment in Suna and Konoha history. 'Can you be my mother'...honestly, who says that?_

Back to the present. There is no song with such lyrics.

Pauline stared at Michelle, now speechless. Even Shaun could barely hide his surprise. Michelle felt a headache coming on, and Gareth started to understand a little bit more about their situation.

"Ok, let me get this straight," Pauline said, waving her hands, "Gaara-san views Michiko as his...mom?"

Michelle and Gareth both nodded simultaneously. There was a silence, then Pauline exploded.

"WHAT? What are you, _insane_?!" Pauline yelled, earning a few strange looks from nearby passengers while she waved her arms around, but Pauline didn't notice, "Michelle, that's weird! _Weird!_ Does your okaa-san know?"

"Yes, Tsume-okaa knows," Michelle nodded, thinking, _Her reaction was just a little bit more contained than yours._

"..._WEIRD!_"

_...This is _definitely_ not going to endear Mii-chan to my family,_ Shaun thought, rubbing one of his temples, _Don't you _want_ to get on my clan's good side? You just 'adopted' a killing machine!_

"I knew you'd react this way," Michelle moaned, poking Shaun in the stomach when she saw him rub his forehead, "Both of you! I'm...going to switch seats. I don't wanna sit with you guys right now."

Michelle got up and moved down a few seats; the subway car was nearly empty now, since it was past rush hour in the city. Gareth followed and sat beside her. He knew she was in an unusual situation at that moment, so he waited a few minutes before asking a question that had been eating at him since he had learned about the portals.

"...Mimi-okaa?"

"...yes, Gaara-kun?" Michelle answered quietly.

"Why do we all need to go to Chinatown together? Can't the other shinobi kill themselves anywhere else?"

"Oh, yeah. About that. Well, the first time, we did do that. But when we came back home, we couldn't figure out whether or not the others came through in their own portal. There was some panic..."

* * *

_"AAAAAH! WHERE ARE THEY?" Michelle yelled, running around the woods where Hinata had said they had 'suicided'; they had left Pauline in Chinatown and were now looking for the other portal-users._

_"I CAN'T FIND THEM!" Denise added, also running around._

_"...What kind of tree do you think this is?" Corey asked Phil, looking up at one of the tall trees._

_"HINATA! KYLE!" Inel bellowed through the trees, earning a few funny looks from a few hikers who were walking through the woods._

_"That's what the nearby high school teachers are like, huh?" one hiker mused to his buddy while they walked._

_"Huh...maybe an elm?" Phil suggested, by way of answering Corey's question, "They have this type of leaves, right?"_

_"WHERE ARE YOOOOOOOU!" Michelle and Denise yelled in unison, before Michelle tripped over a root and Denise bumped into Isaac._

_"Ah. There you are," Denise grinned, seeing the other former ninja standing nearby.

* * *

_

"...so we try to stay together now; it's easier to regroup that way," Michelle finished, smiling a little.

Gareth gave his friend a look, and Michelle raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"...What?"

"...You _are_ weird..."

* * *

Esperwen: Shooooot! I'm so sorry! I seriously meant to post on time, but there were exams and Christmas stuff and all these other things and...shooot! 


	13. Time to Go

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, and I'm going to just read, edit, and post now.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Time to Go**

Returning to Konoha, Michiko found herself in Gaara's hotel room again, the dagger she had used by her feet on the floor.

_Homecoming successful,_ Michiko smiled slightly, picking up the small dagger and stowing it away on her green medical obi.

Tiptoeing carefully, the young medic checked on Saneijin. He was still curled up on the bed, exactly as she had left him just 'a few seconds' ago. The studying medical ninja made a mental note not to suicide near Saneijin ever again; if it ever turned out that he was faking sleep and he saw her disappear...Gaara had made things complicated enough. Gareth Sanders was old and experienced enough to be able to take care of himself; if five-year-old Saneijin went across worlds, he might not survive.

To the Chatora homestead...

When Pooriin rematerialized in her bedroom, the fatigue she had felt before she'd gone back to the city returned to her, full force. Stifling a yawn, she padded downstairs to get herself a glass of water before she went to bed. As she came near the kitchen at the back of the small shop her family owned, she noticed that light shone through the cracks around the sliding door. Curious to see who was still up, Pooriin eased the door open and poked her head inside. Her father, Purujin, was seated at the kitchen table, sipping tea and examining a scroll in front of him. Pooriin moved to hug her father silently, then went to pour herself a glass of water.

"...couldn't sleep?" Purujin asked, keeping his voice low so that the people upstairs would not be disturbed.

"Um...I was reading some of Bikto's old scrolls," Pooriin said, remembering what she had done before changing worlds, "The genin exam's in a few weeks."

"That's true," Purujin nodded, and he turned back to his scroll, while Pooriin started to drink her water, "...Shino-kun's going on a mission tomorrow. Shibi-san sent a scroll by messenger; it arrived just a few minutes ago. Shino-kun will be gone for a long time, so you're to say goodbye to him tomorrow morning before he leaves."

"Really?" Pooriin tried to look interested, but Purujin saw her expression.

"...You still don't like Shino-kun, don't you?" Purujin asked, with a small sigh.

"He's...ok..." Pooriin put her glass in the kitchen sink, "I just don't know what Michiko sees..."

Pooriin looked shifty-eyed, suddenly, and Purujin couldn't help but chuckle.

"Your emotional training still hasn't changed you overmuch," the middle-aged man murmured affectionately.

"...and I really haven't changed my mind about Shino," Pooriin added, looking at her father resentfully.

Many fathers would be angry or upset with this attitude; Purujin was an extremely patient man, and he only shook his head slowly.

"You know where we stand with this decision," Purujin said gently, "We must answer to and obey your Uncle Koshinu's wishes. We're only very low in our clan. Shino-kun will grow up to be a good man and strong shinobi. You should be proud that you were chosen as a suitor."

"It's all a huge misunderstanding," Pooriin protested, "The only reason they want me is because I've been around Shino for so long, and they think the Gorgon's completely under wraps. Michiko's got better control over her bloodline limit than I do over the Gorgon. She doesn't need to be tackled by a jounin to stop being made of fire. Just yell at her a little and she'll come back to her senses."

"Michiko-chan seems too volatile in personality for the Aburame clan," Purujin pointed out, "One moment she's laughing, the next she's crying over a kikaichu dying."

"Wouldn't that be something the Aburame clan _wants_?"

"Kikaichu die every day, and crying over all of them would drastically impede anybody's life. And she has a temper."

"So do I, and she only shows it when one of her friends is threatened, or when she's just having fun," Pooriin argued, "She'll grow out of that temper, like anybody else, and she's a lot more patient than me."

"Of course. She puts up with you, for one thing," Purujin smiled.

"Otou-san..."

"I kid, I kid," Purujin put his hands up placatingly, "...You're still seeing Kiba-kun?"

"...Yes."

"Hm...And Shino-kun is still seeing Michiko-chan?"

"They're still close, but only as friends." _In this world._

"I see. Well." _Even Shibi-san and Rumanita are trying to end this sham of a courtship. Does _anyone_ want this marriage to come about?_ "Remember to get up early tomorrow. Shino-kun will be dropping by just after sunrise."

Purujin got up and began to walk out of the room, but when he reached Pooriin, he stopped and placed a hand on her head.

"Be patient. Shibi-san still argues for you and Shino-kun. When he gets a good foothold, it's only a matter of time until the clan is swayed in your favour. Just wait, Pooriin-chan. Just wait."

Next day...

Michiko did her morning training, the day she was to return to Suna, in her team's old training ground. Every morning, she practiced her Complete Elemental Transformation with each element; it was like stretching or yoga to her, now. Her four dogs would run around the field and wrestle with each other; that had been their morning exercise since they were pups.

_Hold the air form...count to fifty...change back...and that's the fifth cycle,_ Michiko thought, _I'm done._

Turning towards the presence she had sensed watching her, Michiko saw the four dogs were greeting Shino, who was standing at a distance. Quickly, Michiko strapped her violin, which was nearby, to her back, grabbed her giant shoulder bag and threw it on, then hurried to where Shino was.

"Did you wait long?" Michiko asked breathlessly, when she reached him.

"No," Shino shook his head, "You were just finishing your fourth cycle when I got here."

"Oh..." Michiko cracked a grin, "Um...so...how're you?"

Shino looked at her expressionlessly for a moment, then said, "If the reason you are pulling your hair like that is Gaara," here, Michiko realised that she was tugging on her hair and let go of it as if it were burning her, "I'll say that your..._relationship_ is rather..._unorthodox_."

"...Are you mad?" Michiko asked, lacing her fingers together to keep them away from her hair.

"No," Shino shook his head, starting to walk towards the road, "I am simply..."

Michiko braced herself, but there was a long silence while they walked.

"...There's no real word for what I'm feeling, actually," Shino shrugged after a moment, "But..."

His voice trailed off, and with a slight shake of the head he stopped where he was and gave Michiko a stern look.

"You're a very strange person, 'adopting' a son that's very close to your age," Shino said, keeping his voice teasing, though if a stranger heard him, they might believe he was treating Michiko very harshly.

"Thank you," Michiko laughed slightly, "But I...Ipromisehewon'tcomebetweenus," she said in a rush, feeling self-conscious as she did, then quickly changed the subject, "Anyway, so we're meeting Pooriin?"

Shino nodded, then continued walking and gestured towards a small wooden cage that he was carrying in one hand.

"We will be making a slight detour for this."

Michiko nodded avidly, trying to keep the mood light, then sighed from the effort.

"Does everything we do together have to be awkward?"

"It seems that way."

And back to the Chatora homestead...

"A baby jaguar?" Pooriin squealed, standing at her home's doorway and looking into Shino's wooden cage, "For me?"

"Naturally," Shino nodded, giving his possible fiancée a dull look, "It was my aunt's idea. She heard you didn't have a cat companion, and she found this jaguar being dragged around by some travelling merchant."

"She's adorable!" Pooriin exclaimed, the jaguar cub looking at her questioningly through the bars, "Thank you so much! I think I'll name her...Takara!"

_'Treasure'? ...reasonable name,_ Shino thought, and he nodded to Pooriin before turning to join Michiko at the road.

"'Bye, Shino!" Pooriin called, and she carefully lifted the cage from the ground and took the jaguar into her home.

Daneiru and Rinde were waiting with Michiko at the roadside; all of them had their packs ready for their mission in and journey to the Hidden Sand. Rinde was trying to pet Aramis, who was her favourite since he looked so much like a fox. Not exactly fond of Rinde, the black dog was dodging her and trying to hide behind his brothers, while Daneiru was telling Michiko some kind of story.

"...so, the next thing I know, I realize she has herpes," Daneiru continued, then noticed Shino had caught up to them, "Oh, hey, Shino! What's up?"

Shino looked at Daneiru sternly, then gave a look to Michiko that said something along the lines of: 'Do I want to ask about the herpes, or should we just get moving?' Michiko made a face, then started walking towards Konoha's gates, where she knew Gaara and Saneijin were waiting; Shino knew what his answer was: 'NO.'

Team 10 had been the first to arrive at Konoha's main gates, and Kurenai had arrived soon after. Asuma sat on a rock just off the road, smoking yet another of his cigarettes, and Kurenai sat beside him, both of them talking in low voices. Shikamaru was leaning against the walls by the gate, arms up behind his head, and he seemed to be daydreaming. Chouji stood beside Shikamaru, snacking on his favourite chips, while Ino was standing in the middle of the road, looking for approaching ninja that would be joining them on the mission.

"I see Shino and Michiko!" Ino called to her teammates, shading her eyes to see better, "And there are two ninja with them; I think they're, maybe...four years older than us?"

"What ranks?" Chouji asked, between mouthfuls.

"Um..." Ino squinted, "Well, the boy's probably a chuunin, since he has the vest, but I can't tell about the girl."

"She should be Satoki Rinde," Shikamaru called lazily, "Tsunade-sama said there would be three ninja that we've never met before; two would be boys, one's a girl. Rinde and one guy are jounins, the guy right there must be Yasha Daneiru, a chuunin."

"Got it," Ino nodded, then walked forward to greet the other ninja with a big smile, "Michiko! How're you? You've been back for the past two-and-a-half months, right?"

"Yeah," Michiko grinned, while D'Artagnan stood on his hind legs to be petted by Ino, "And already I'm leaving again."

"When's the next time you'll be back?" Ino asked curiously, while examining Aramis, who was perched on his usual spot at Michiko's shoulders.

"Another three months," Michiko shrugged, "The techniques and theory I'm learning are getting more difficult, so I can't bounce between villages so often anymore."

"I'm sure Shino, here, is really cut up about it," Ino teased, elbowing Michiko slightly.

Both girls looked at Shino, expecting some kind of answer. Instead, the 13-year-old silently walked by them to where Shikamaru and Chouji were. Ino cut her eyes from Shino to Michiko, and gave her a look.

"...We're not dating anymore," Michiko explained, and even Athos looked apologetic, "So...you probably shouldn't have said that."

"Oh...I thought Shino was being normal," Ino asked bluntly.

Rinde laughed loudly, and even quiet Daneiru couldn't help but grin; if Shino heard, he made no sign of it.

"Yeah, we all are entertained by Shino like that," Rinde nodded, still laughing, then shook Ino's hand, "By the way, my name's Rinde, and that's my boyfriend, Daniel."

"Daneiru," the chuunin corrected quickly, "Yasha Daneiru."

"Yeah, whatever," Rinde said shortly, "So, Michiko, why _did_ you date Shino, anyways?"

Ino looked between the two, not sure what to do with them. One had a louder mouth than Naruto. The other said less than Hinata during classes in the Academy. And they were dating.

"Opposites really _do_ attract," she murmured to herself.

"Oh, is that why?" Rinde asked, still thinking they were talking about Michiko and Shino, "But they're kinda similar, since they're both smart and kind of quiet. Well, quiet around big groups anyway. Michiko's really loud sometimes, and I mean _really_ loud. Sometimes her voice goes up like three octaves. It's really funny, actually. But I don't know about Shino. Whenever I see him, he kinda just walks away. Hey, Michiko, does Shino talk a lot when other people aren't around?"

"Uh..." Michiko felt her eye twitching, "Care to ask him yourself?"

"No, not really," Rinde said carelessly, "He'd probably kill me with his kikaichu or something. Hey, you're opposites like that too! Because Michiko likes healing things, and Shino kills everything."

"Shino does not kill everything!" Michiko exclaimed, slapping a palm to her forehead, "Who gave you that idea?"

"He doesn't?" Rinde looked confused, "But I read fanfics where-"

"Time for us to, uh, stand over there!" Daneiru said loudly, grabbing Rinde before she could say any more, "Let's go!"

Ino, Michiko and the four dogs watched quietly as Daneiru dragged Rinde away by the arm and to a spot that was well out of everybody's way. Rinde started screaming in protest, but a handkerchief in her mouth soon solved that problem.

"Fanfics...?" Ino looked pained, "Should I ask?"

"No," Michiko sighed, "Just pretend it didn't happen."

"Pretend what didn't happen?" a friendly voice came from down the road.

Both genin kunoichi saw that Kiba, who had spoken, Korii, and Hinata had arrived at their meeting place.

"You don't want to know," Michiko shook her head, hugging her brother, then Hinata, and finally Korii.

"Hi," Ino waved slightly, feeling slightly out of place with all the hugs.

"Hey, Ino," Kiba nodded with a small smile, and Hinata also gave her a polite greeting.

Korii nodded at his temporary teammate, then looked at Michiko while Kiba and Hinata spoke with Ino about what had happened with their teams since the Chuunin Exam.

"Is it true that Daneiru's taking your place in Team 13?" he asked in a low voice.

"Yeah," Michiko answered, "Rinde, Gaara, Firu and I are making an impromptu team on the way to Suna."

"Sucks to be you," Korii smirked, not unkindly.

"That it does," Michiko sighed, then looked down at Porthos, who was pawing her leg, "What's up?"

Porthos grovelled for a moment, then ran a few steps down the road, then back to Michiko; Gaara, Firu and Saneijin were coming towards them.

Can I go ahead and greet Sanei-kun? Porthos asked eagerly, hitting the ground with his forelegs playfully.

"Go ahead," Michiko grinned, "But save your energy; knowing Gaara, we're not going to stop very often during our trip."

Porthos barked his acknowledgement, and happily, he ran to meet his best friend halfway. When they arrived Michiko waved to Firu and Gaara, while Firu and Korii did some kind of complicated punch and handshake combination.

"Did Saneijin eat breakfast?" Michiko asked; she had left the hotel room before the small boy had gotten up.

"A rice ball," Gaara nodded, "Finished training?"

"Yup. You signed out with Tsunade-sama?"

As a reply, Gaara nodded.

_Everything's set,_ Michiko nodded, relieved though the responsibility to check wasn't hers; Gaara and the three sensei, Kurenai, Asuma and Inel, were all co-leaders, while Firu, Shino, Shikamaru and Korii were acting as deputies, _As soon as Inel-sensei and Deniizu show up, we can go._

As if on cue, as soon as Michiko completed that thought, Deniizu and Inel landed in the middle of the scattered group, after running from rooftop to rooftop to get to the meeting place.

"You're less than half an hour late, Inel," Asuma said, waving his cigarette at his fellow jounin, "You're kind of prompt, today."

"I was looking for Deniizu," Inel explained, while the sixteen ninja, five dogs, and Saneijin gathered around Gaara.

The brown-haired girl looked normal, but Michiko knew that she had been running around with Itachi all night, yet again, by the dark circles under her eyes. With a tired smile, Deniizu saluted slightly, and Michiko smiled encouragingly at her. The mission had a bad start for the young kunoichi.

"So, what's the plan, Gaara...san?" Asuma asked, keeping his voice light.

Asuma had meant to use the usual '-kun' honorific, but at the sound of his name, Gaara had looked at the jounin with such an intense look, that Asuma decided formality would be wiser.

"We don't need a formation," Gaara answered, looking at each of the Konoha ninja, one at a time, "Just walk. We rest at noon and nightfall; we begin again at daybreak."

"If there are any problems, tell your teacher or deputy," Firu added, "We want to get to Suna as quickly as possible, so try to avoid wasting energy by doing things like talking," he looked at Rinde pointedly, "Or arguing," he added, turning to Kiba and Deniizu.

"What are our mission objectives, exactly?" Ino asked, raising a hand for attention, "All I got was a notice on my door that said to meet here for an A-ranked mission at Suna."

"Put simply, Suna's under a minor seige, and they want a bit of extra help from us since we have more ninja than they do," Korii answered, putting his hands on his hips calmly.

"'Seige'? I thought this was Suna we were talking about," Shikamaru said, looking skeptical.

"Even though it's been over a year, Suna hasn't recovered from the fight during the chuunin exam that you passed," Asuma explained, then looked at Firu who seemed impatient, "Sorry. We're done."

"Are we clear, then?" Firu asked, "Kurenai-san? Inel-sensei?"

"Hai," all present nodded.

"Let's go," Gaara ordered in his usual soft tone, and he led the way out of the village.

"...Think we'll survive?" Kurenai whispered to Asuma, as soon as they were clear of the village gates, "There's so many of us; sixteen is too big of a team."

"Really?" Asuma looked at the same group for a moment, then said, "I see just five people; that's one ninja cell, plus one person to be guarded."

Kurenai looked at him sternly, and frowned when he smiled at her.

"Be serious," Kurenai scolded, "Four ninja teams, _and_ a little boy. That's seventeen people."

"Look again, Kurenai," Asuma shook his head, "Normally, a ninja cell acts as one person anyway. See each small group of people in front of us?"

Kurenai sighed inwardly, then looked. Gaara walked silently in front, with Korii and Firu on either side of him, like black-clad bodyguards. One group. Michiko walked just behind, holding Saneijin's hand while the small boy rode on Porthos, while Hinata walked on the other side, and Ino followed nearby. That made two, plus Saneijin, who would need to be specially taken care of as person number three. Shino, Shikamaru, Kiba, Deniizu and Chouji were in the next group, the last three talking, while the first two listened. Four groups. Inel walked silently in the back, behind Kurenai and Asuma, keeping his guard up and watching the surrounding landscape. Five.

"I think we'll be fine," Asuma said, before taking another draw on his cigarette.

"...you haven't seen Team 13 in action," Kurenai muttered, but she let the matter drop for the time being.

* * *

Esperwen: Merry Day-after-Boxing-Day! 


	14. Try Hard

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, blahblahblah, wonkwonkwonk, yaddayaddayah, etc. I'm smrt.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Try Hard**

"Quick! Grab his leg!"

"He's behind you. Below."

"Do it now! Gogogo!" "ARF!"

"Try and roll out of the way."

"You got him!"

"...You didn't roll," Shikamaru commented, in his usual, lazy way.

"FLIP HIM! GO!" Kiba yelled, so into what he was doing, and Akamaru howled his approval.

"...flip him?" Ino said incredulously, walking into their part of the forest with Hinata.

Saneijin had grabbed Chouji's leg, and was now struggling to follow his coach's advice and flip the older boy; his face was turning red with the effort, while Chouji couldn't help but look down, pityingly. Kiba had been instructing Saneijin with wrestling, while Shikamaru had been cheering Chouji on in his own, laid back fashion; Deniizu was sitting up in a tree, laughing quietly at the four-year-old's efforts. Ino shook her head, knowing that Kiba was not being wise with his decision to train Saneijin.

"Michiko doesn't know about this, does she?" Ino asked, crossing her arms, and flipping her head to keep her bangs out of her eyes.

"Of course not," Kiba scoffed, "She's on sentry duty."

"Kiba!" Hinata tsked, "You know Saneijin's too young to be training!"

"Mimi-okaa said I could help fight!" Saneijin pouted, letting go of Chouji's leg and running over to puff his chest out proudly in front of his two 'big sisters'.

"Mimi-okaa also said that you had to grow up a little first before Kiba could teach you how to throw people around," Ino pointed out, shaking a finger in front of Saneijin's nose.

The green-eyed boy wrinkled his nose at the blonde; she always talked down on him, since he was so small. So to prove how grown-up he was, Saneijin stuck his tongue out at Ino for good measure.

"C'mon, guys," Deniizu said coaxingly, "What Michiko doesn't know can't hurt her!"

"Saneijin almost had an ulcer not ten seconds ago!" Ino exclaimed, pointing at the small boy, who was scowling at his elder, "She's going to notice if he's pulled a muscle when we start walking again!"

"He's been travelling all morning, just like the rest of us," Kiba argued, "She'll probably think he's just tired, instead."

"...Oh no, she's not," Ino said after a second of silence, a smug smile on her face.

Kiba started to answer back, but froze when someone tapped him on his shoulder. Shikamaru shook his head, and Chouji picked up Saneijin and started to carry him away when they saw who was behind Kiba. The latter turned around slowly, and was promptly hit at the side of his head, hard enough for him to see a few stars and hear a few bells chiming.

"Boke," Michiko growled, and all four of her dog team bared their teeth at Kiba disapprovingly, "How many times do I have to tell you that you can't keep encouraging him like that?"

"It's not that big of a deal!" Kiba exclaimed, rubbing a growing lump, "Even Chouji thought it was ok that Saneijin could wrestle!"

"Chouji wasn't telling Saneijin to try and flip him," Michiko shot back, flicking her brother's forehead irritably.

"Why aren't you keeping watch for the group?" Shikamaru asked, forestalling any further yelling.

"Because we're breaking camp, now," Ino answered, "That's why we came here; to tell you guys. And good thing, too, for Saneijin over there," she nodded to where Chouji and Saneijin were still walking, in the distance, "He could've hurt himself. You idiots."

"Ano...our sensei and the other shinobi are waiting for us," Hinata said softly, "Shall we go, now?"

Shikamaru yawned, muttered 'troublesome' under his breath, then led the way through the woods, with Ino right in step with him. Michiko hauled Kiba up painfully by the ear, and both Inuzuka and their dogs also hurried to meet the others. Hinata started to move, then looked up the tree at Deniizu, a worried expression on her face. The older kunoichi was moving sluggishly; she hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. On one hand, it was true that none of the ninja had had any warning about their important mission, so it wouldn't be fair to be annoyed at Deniizu's lack of preparation. But on the other hand, she shouldn't have been awake all night anyway. She knew that all ninja were supposed to be in top shape every day, since Konoha was still trying to recuperate from Orochimaru's attack; all levels of ninja had to work their hardest to keep the village running smoothly, and pulling an all-nighter for something that wasn't going to help the village was the opposite of that.

"Deniizu-kun?" Hinata walked beside the other kunoichi, who was rubbing her eyes tiredly, "Will you be all right?"

"...I guess," Deniizu said hesitantly, "But...a soldier pill would help."

"Was nice try."

Hinata and Deniizu blinked, then spun around to see Inel, who had been behind them without their knowing. The almost middle-aged jounin turned both of them by the shoulders and pushed them slightly so that they would continue walking.

"So _you_ taught Michiko that neat little sneaking up trick," Deniizu joked, trying to keep things light.

"Do no give her the soldier pills, Hinata-chan," Inel said firmly, not angry, but not joking either, "She is the strong enough to last this one day. And if she were so tired, she would have been taking a nap during our lunch break."

"I meant to," Deniizu argued half-heartedly, "But then Saneijin was learning how to wrestle, so I was watching in case he got hurt-"

"You do no even like Saneijin, you were watching to see pain, no to help," Inel chuckled, then got serious again, "Deniizu, the no soldier pills rule is your punishment. Same with Rinde, and she is complaining every ten minutes."

"Yeah, but she's complaining for just walking!" Deniizu argued again, "I actually need a boost; I'm tired!"

"You should think about these things when you are terrorizing with your Itachi," Inel retorted, "Pills only are for the emergencies."

"It's just another six hours of walking, Deniizu-kun," Hinata said patiently, "You'll manage. I know you; pretend there's banana-flavoured Pocky at our last rest stop of the day, and you'll be fine."

"That's what Michiko said," Deniizu grumbled, but she still nodded; the rest of the day's travel went smoothly for the large group.

And then some boring walking and sleeping later...

It was just past noon, on the group's second day of travel. Gaara and Firu were now looking for a place for the group to rest; they were scheduled for a break, and they especially wanted to end the conversation going on behind them, at the back of the group.

"We've been walking all day!" Rinde exclaimed, "I'm tired!"

"And you were up late last night drawing!" Deniizu snapped, "Serves you right!"

"Why can't we stop, already? It's been hours!"

"Your mom takes hours!"

"...What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means 'shut up', all right?"

_Mendokuse..._Shikamaru thought, annoyed, _They're louder and angrier than Ino with a bad hair day._

_They've been arguing with each other since they woke up,_ Chouji thought, walking quietly, trying to tune out the two kunoichi's voices by looking into the surrounding foilage for possible enemies, _Deniizu isn't used to moving around during the day, anymore, so she didn't get much sleep last night. And Rinde's been like this since yesterday._

Michiko was braiding and rebraiding her hair while she walked in the front, in order to keep herself from trying to intervene. All members of the group had made attempts to silence the two girls in the past few hours, but either they would be ignored, yelled at, forced to pick a side, or the peace would only last a few minutes. Rinde would still voice her need for rest, and Deniizu, with her present crankiness, still felt the need to argue back at Rinde.

"Listen, _kohai,_ maybe you should shut up, since you're just a genin," Rinde suggested sneeringly.

"Listen, _teme,_ you forget that I think you don't deserve to be a jounin," Deniizu countered, in the same tone of voice Rinde had used, "Dammit, you're so useless! Can't even shut up for five minutes!"

"Look who's talking!" Rinde said, a triumphant ring in her voice.

"Look who started it!" Deniizu yelled, her fists clenched tightly.

Korii saw a few nerves pop on both girls' foreheads; silently, he looked at Shino and jerked his head towards the two quarrelers meaningfully. Without a word, Shino glided between the two girls and pushed them apart, making himself a barrier between them so that they couldn't argue without putting in extra effort. This snapped Deniizu out of it pretty well, but Rinde wanted to keep arguing. She opened her mouth to say something, but Shino fixed her with a glare and released an aura that even tactless Rinde could sense; abruptly, she snuck over to where Daneiru was and linked arms with him, hiding from the bug-using shinobi.

_Let me hit her!_ Deniizu thought to Korii, _Just once! I'll knock her out, and it'll do all of us a favour._

_I thought you knew genjutsu that were more subtle and safe than hitting her over the head,_ Korii asked calmly.

_But we're supposed to save chakra...is that a 'no'?_

_Yes, that's a 'no'. Oh crap!_

The three teachers, Firu, Korii, Gaara and Chouji all stopped in their tracks. Chouji had finally glimpsed someone in the surrounding forest, and they did not appear to be friendly.

"Someone's hiding from us at our right," Chouji said, directing his observation mainly to Asuma and Gaara.

"Good call," Asuma nodded, "I saw him, too."

"It was a chick," Korii and Firu said bluntly at the same time, "Not a dude."

Asuma gave both 17-year-olds a look that read something along the lines of a friendly, "Oh yeah? Prove me wrong."

"I bet 200 ryou that I'm right," Korii said calmly, holding out a hand.

"You're on," Asuma grinned, shaking Korii's hand to seal the bet, _This guy's just a new chuunin...I'm probably right._

Gaara examined each of the ninja for a moment, then looked at Michiko meaningfully and nodded towards Hinata slightly.

"Firu-san, Korii-san, sensei, I would appreciate your assistance," Gaara said dully, and he launched himself into the trees.

"Hai."

The four jounin and Korii followed the young shinobi quickly, and Michiko turned around to look at the remaining ten who were with her.

"I guess that means _you_ lead," Ino said, pouting slightly while she spoke to Michiko.

"That's not fair! Michi's a genin!" Rinde pouted openly.

"I'm the only one here who both loves Suna enough to definitely put effort into helping it, and who Gaara trusts," Michiko pointed out gently, and after a moment of thought, she motioned for Shikamaru, Shino, and Daneiru to come to her.

"Hey, what about me?" Rinde exclaimed, indignant, "I'm a jounin! Aren't you going to ask for my help?"

"Shino and Shikamaru were assigned to be deputies for our teams, and from Team 13, Deniizu doesn't like leading," Chouji answered, explaining Michiko's reasons for choosing the people she had, "Now she has a representative from every team."

"But Team 13's down one extra person anyway," Rinde said, "Mishelly, you already know what that Daniel and Denise can do, so you should've picked me! Our impromptu team should stick together anyway!"

_Why'd she pronounce their names like that? _Ino thought, examining Rinde carefully.

_Shit, Ino and Shikamaru noticed!_ Denise thought, then set to work entering their minds and hiding any memories of the portal-users' other names.

"No, out of all these people, I only know what Deniizu does," Michiko corrected calmly, but hoping that Denise was already taking care of Linda's slip of the tongue, "Shino tells me about Team 8's strengths and weaknesses, Shikamaru knows Team 10, and Daneiru...um..."

Michiko's voice trailed off, not sure how she should finish her sentence. She was a bit embarassed to scold her friend and senior ninja, but Shikamaru had no such qualms.

"You and Daneiru are the only strangers we have, and we've only seen Daneiru train while on this trip, not you," Shikamaru answered, "I don't know what you can do, so how can any of us factor in your abilities when planning? Considering your past performance, Daneiru is the only one we can really trust to help us plan."

"This isn't fair," Rinde pouted, "I'm the only jounin left! And Korii's only a new chuunin; he's still a rookie. How come _he_ got to go?"

"Why do you think?" Deniizu asked, exasperated, done with and a little tired from her mind work, "Korii was responsible yesterday, walking with Gaara and trying to figure out how Gaara works, while all _you_'ve been doing is complain! Obviously, Gaara thought Korii would be more helpful. Gawd, you're so useless!"

"But I'm still strong!" Rinde exclaimed, frustrated.

"You haven't proved it, so you're not getting any special attention," Ino snapped, "Nobody gets rewarded without earning it somehow."

Rinde started to argue another point, but Daneiru spoke right over her.

"They need Korii's eyes," Daneiru said impatiently, "He's best suited for keeping a lookout for them, in case another person comes by. Your techniques are all for battle, Rinde; even if Gaara had seen you fight, you still couldn't help them."

_Nothing subtle about Rinde,_ Shino thought, irritated with the constantly arguing girl, _Neither in speech, action, nor fighting technique. ...What a pathetic ninja style. The only person who can pull that off is Naruto, and even _he _knows how to sneak around._

"And we need Hinata's eyes, which is why Gaara pointed her out," Michiko added, smiling at the friend in question, then got down to business again, "But either way, we all have to cooperate. It doesn't matter if you're tired or hate each other. We have to work together, or we're all trash. Got it?"

Rinde looked down sulkily, but Michiko was grateful when Deniizu nodded, even if it was stony.

"Any more complaints?" Michiko asked, looking around the group, and when there weren't any she turned to Shikamaru, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Mendokusai...why me?" Shikamaru yawned, "Daneiru's got more experience."

"You're the one with the famous advanced brain," Daneiru pointed out, "I'm more of a plan improvement guy. Now give us a plan, brainiac."

"Fine..." the deer-herder sighed then began to speak, "What I think is that we all should take care of our own teams, now that our teachers aren't here. Shino, your team's always been good at reconnaissance; I'd like for your team to keep a lookout for any new people that might be allied with whoever Gaara's meeting. We don't know if they're enemies or not, so we might as well stay on the safe side; I need you to walk around Gaara's group in as wide a range as you can."

"You sure that isn't just overkill?" Rinde piped up again, ignoring the glares that were being thrown her way, "The guy out there could just be a traveller that wants to keep to himself."

"We're ninja of the Hidden Leaf," Michiko answered, smiling mysteriously, "During battle, it doesn't matter how weak our opponent is; we won't underestimate them. We will fight all out."

_...heh,_ Shino hid a (tiny) pleased smile behind his collar, _She still remembers that? That was one of my first lessons for her._

"Hey, that's a good line," Ino nodded approvingly, "Where'd you learn that?"

"From someone special," Michiko shrugged, then realized Shikamaru was giving her a look.

"You want me to do this, or not?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sorry!" Michiko bowed slightly, "Go on."

With a shrug and a lazy, uncaring smile to Michiko, which counted as saying 'apology accepted', Shikamaru continued instructing Shino, "Your team must stay out of sight so that the person Gaara's talking to doesn't get scared off. Also, stay together; we can't afford to get separated right now. Another group will also be making rounds, so you take the further, northerly side, while the other group's got the south. Clear?"

"Understood," Shino said smoothly, looked at his two best friends, and with just one nod, they all jumped together into the trees.

"So," Shikamaru looked at Michiko and Daneiru, "You want to be lookouts like Team 8? Or do you want to focus on being Gaara's back-up? Back-up needs to try and move in close to where our sensei are. Shino's team would obviously guarding your backs; on the off-chance that either our sensei are attacked and need help, or the stranger is an enemy and escapes, your team would need to step in. But only when absolutely necessary; it's more than likely that our teachers will be able to handle whatever happens, but we can't be sure."

"Well," Michiko shared looks with Daneiru before turning back to the cloud-watcher, "Saneijin should probably stick with me, so staying far away from possible danger would be the wisest thing for my team to do. And with that IQ of yours, your team adapts the fastest to new situations, so you guys would probably be best at back-up."

"Such a big deal..." Shikamaru sighed loudly, then nodded, "Fine, fine."

"It's the Ino-Shika-Chou formation's time to shine!" Ino yelled to Deniizu, pumping a hand in the air.

"Shut up!" Deniizu exclaimed, clapping a hand over the ear that Ino had yelled into, "I'm right beside you!" _Stupid blonde...!_

"Oh! Sorry!" Ino clapped a hand over her mouth, "Uh...Ok, let's go!"

Dodging a sloppy punch from Deniizu, Ino jumped into the trees as fast as she could, hoping to avoid another show of temper from Deniizu. Chouji waved to Michiko, then he too jumped off the road, and with a nod, Shikamaru followed his teammates. Finally, Michiko took Saneijin off of his seat on Porthos, and got him to sit on her shoulders.

"You stick with me and guard my head, ok, Sanei-kun?" Michiko asked cheerfully.

"Yes, ma'am, Mimi-okaa!" Saneijin saluted, waving a practice kunai that Kiba or Gaara must have given to him.

Michiko started to lead the way into the forest, and immediately the slightly altered Team 13 started bantering with each other in hushed voices; they were a little nervous, so light talk helped them a little.

"So we've got the south side?" Yasha Daneiru whispered, raising an eyebrow eagerly at Michiko, "Team 13 to the rescue? A chance to show off my mad skills and rock-hard abs?"

"...How would you show off your abdominal muscles?" Michiko whispered back, her eye twitching.

"Duh. I take off my shirt during every battle," Daneiru answered, as if it were the most common thing that ninjas did.

"Ew..." Saneijin groaned, he, Porthos and D'Artagnan making similar faces.

"If that's the case, can I go and fight on my own?" Deniizu asked, teasingly, "I'd prefer not to have to gouge my eyes out after seeing something like that."

"Keep your shirt on," Michiko rolled her eyes, "Both of you. Please."

That was a horrible pun, Aramis sighed, riding on Porthos' back now that Saneijin had his usual spot.

"Oh, you _wish_ you could see my abs," Daneiru said with mock arrogance.

"Hey, Linda, you usually hit Daniel at this point," Deniizu said, turning to her friend, "Did you grow up or some..."

The final three ninja and Saneijin looked around at every angle. The road and the space of forest that they had just walked across was empty.

"...thing...!" Deniizu finished, fishing through her weapon's pouch for her brass knuckles.

"Talaga...?" Michiko slipped into Philippino again.

"You can't be serious," Daneiru groaned, covering his face with his hands.

"How could you lose track of your girlfriend?" Michiko exclaimed in a hoarse whisper, stage-yelling into Daneiru's face.

"Shut up, kohai!" Daneiru countered in the same voice.

"Don't call Mimi-okaa your junior! She's smarter'n you!" Saneijin growled in a low voice.

"Shut up, gaki!" Daneiru growled back, his good mood gone.

Daneiru didn't deny it, D'Artagnan said to his brothers, stifling a snicker, Michi-chan's smarter than him.

"Don't call Sanei-kun a brat!" Michiko hissed, shaking a fist at her teammate.

"She must've gone to catch up to Korii and Inel-sensei," Deniizu realized, thinking quickly, and already leading the way, "Let's go!"

"No way!" Michiko shook her head stubbornly, "She wouldn't!"

No sooner were the words out of her mouth, when shouts from the forest were heard.

"Oi, Rinde! You moron!"

"What're you doing?! Inel-san, stop your student!"

"Whoa! Rinde, you almost stabbed _me_ instead of the guy!"

"She would," Daneiru sighed, and all three ninja jumped hurriedly towards the rest of their group.

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Esperwen: There. That's your Christmas present-cum-birthday gift-cum-peace offering-cum-apology chapter. 

Naruto: Ne, Esu-chan. Am I alive?

Esperwen: I'll explain it in the last chapter! Just wait! And...hey, cool, Mitasco reviewed already. Thank you to all of you who are so patient with me! Now please review. Even if it's angry. I probably need the slap anyway.


	15. Friction

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, there isn't much here that I _can_ disclaim other than that, considering that this is in Narutosphere and I obviously don't live there. ...if only.

Esperwen: I'M SO SORRY! OH MY GOODNESS! I can't believe I forgot to update last Tuesday! What is wrong with me?! Oh my gosh! I'm sorry! You'd think that I'd be more organized, considering that it's my holiday, but I'm not. ...OH MY. ...What _was_ I doing last Tuesday, anyway?

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_Esperwen: Hm... narutofan and anime-eden __are wonderful places to be. ...Hello, Chobits and Naruto scanlations! (downloads) And...ah-ha! I found a new site to stream watch Heroes! (clicks on cucirca) __I have no life...I should be celebrating New Years'...__

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_

Esperwen: Oh, yeah... I guess I should add now:

DISCLAIMER: I own neither Chobits nor NBC's Heroes, and I do not own the sites narutofan, anime-eden, or cucirca. I _should _be payed for shameless advertising, though.

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**Chapter Fifteen: Friction**

"We lost her!" Ino bellowed into Rinde's face.

The students of Team 10 had hurried towards their fellow ninja when they heard yelling; the boys stood with their sensei, discussing what had just happened, while Ino was berating Rinde. The platinum blonde angrily punched a nearby tree as hard as she could, with enough impact to shake a few branches. She froze as soon as the hit connected, then let out a small yelp of pain.

"Itai..." she exclaimed in a small, high voice, cradling her hand.

Michiko, who had just arrived in the area, rolled her eyes, then put Saneijin from her shoulders and stepped over to check on the hand. Deniizu and Daneiru exchanged annoyed and apologetic looks with each other, then the former moved to her teacher, while the latter stood beside Rinde.

"What have you done?" Daneiru asked his girlfriend, somewhat reprovingly.

"What's she messed up now?" Deniizu added, giving her teacher a questioning look.

"I didn't mess up!" Rinde snapped, kicking Daneiru in the shin, "I almost had her!"

"Almost had her life, is more like it," Kurenai retorted, "She just went crazy on the girl we found; it was either let the possible information source go, or let a possibly innocent bystander get killed."

"Seriously?" Deniizu asked disbelievingly, "C'mon, this is _Rinde _we're talking about."

"We heard a commotion," Shino said, his own team running in from the opposite direction that Team 13 had come from.

"...did Rinde mess something up?" Kiba asked untactfully, seeing how everyone was throwing dirty looks at the kunoichi in question.

"I'm not useless!" Rinde exclaimed, yelling at the top of her lungs.

_I wasn't even thinking that!_ Kiba thought, sweatdropping.

"In that case, Rinde, you can shut up for a sec," Korii said, turning from talking to Firu and Gaara to point a finger at his former teammate, "We're trying to plan."

Michiko finished bandaging Ino's hand, then shared an annoyed look with Athos before catching Firu's eye. At a beckoning motion from Michiko, Firu left the other experienced ninja and walked over to Michiko.

"How much damage did she cause?" Michiko asked in a hushed tone, so that Rinde couldn't have another outburst, "I don't see any wrecked trees, or even scuffed up grass."

"Rinde's a jounin, Michiko, she's gotta have some skill," Firu answered, shrugging slightly, "You know how Inel's so into tuning when playing music?"

"One of the reasons I'm doing so well in class," Michiko nodded thoughtfully; she refused to play in music class when her harmony wasn't perfect.

"He also hates really bad aim," Firu explained, "I have such good eyes because of both natural talent, and Inel-sensei's strict training. He pushes you guys, too, when you're practicing ranged attacks, right?"

"Unfortunately," Michiko answered, rubbing her arm self-consciously. Her aim was fair enough, but alongside Deniizu and Korii, she looked pathetic; Inel always upped her training when he saw them practicing together.

"Rinde got really good, too," Firu continued, nodding to Inel's neice, "Her attacks aren't subtle, but they also rarely miss. She's spent years to train so that her Body Flicker technique is at least as fast as Mach 1, she uses sound as shockwaves, and she bends air so that her shockwaves concentrate on just one area. Put into perspective, she went easy on the girl we were trying to get information out of. You're right about her having good moments where she's mature or whatever; Korii and I just hate her because they're so few and far between."

"I love your sense of teamwork," Michiko said wryly.

"Shut up, wench, or I'll never train you again," Firu shook his fist under Michiko's nose, then looked at her seriously again, "But she never uses her techniques unless she's really, really, _really _provoked; she's slower to attack than you."

"I'm a defensive fighter! Get over it!"

Firu ignored Michiko and spoke right over her, "What made her pop?"

"Well, she and Deniizu have been arguing since they got up," Michiko answered thoughtfully, "I'm pretty sure Deniizu called her 'useless' at least once, and...seriously hurting the enemy would count as 'useful', right?"

"It might," Firu nodded, also looking pensive.

"Yo," Kiba said, joining their little group, "What're we doing now? Should we set up camp nearby, or should we suggest to keep walking while discussing our next move?"

"I think..." Firu started scratching his head, then winced and looked at a now-greasy hand, "I think I need a shower."

"That you do," Kiba nodded, he and Akamaru wrinkling their noses.

"Eww..." Michiko shuddered, then turned to Kiba, "So we really lost our source of information?"

"Completely," Kiba answered, then grimaced, "I don't know whether to be impressed that Rinde's that strong, or disgusted because she doesn't know when to control it."

"She's good when emotions aren't involved," Firu said, "That's why she's always on missions that are far away; when she doesn't know anyone, then she can think rationally."

_Ugh,_ Michiko thought, looking around at her low-moraled group, _We actually lost that lead to what's going in Suna. Man, we're dysfunctional._

"How many people do you see, now?" Kurenai asked Asuma challengingly.

_...I can't wait for this mission to be over,_ Asuma thought, pulling out another cigarette.

Dysfunction at it's finest. Believe it! ...ew, I did not just say that...

"...two...three..."

"This is gonna be pitiful," Kiba chuckled, he and Hinata standing to one side, while Shino and Michiko were at the other side of their camp. The rest of their group was either on sentry duty that night, strategizing for the next day, training, or looking for food.

_Why am I so weak?_ Michiko thought, struggling through her physical training, _Look! A sweat drop! I haven't even reached five of these girl push-ups and I'm sweating!_

"...four...f-five..."

"Keep going," Shino said, placing Aramis on Michiko's back for extra weight, "Get to twenty-five and we'll call it a day."

"O...kay..." Michiko gasped, "Seven...eight..."

"What've you been doing since the Academy?" Kiba asked with a bark of laughter, watching at a distance, "Saneijin can get ten push-ups before you've done three."

"Shut...up," Michiko growled, "Eleven...twelve...I'm gonna...die..."

"Save you breath. Just count," Shino scolded, then turned to Kiba, "She's been working on aerobics and medical techniques in Suna. No weight training."

"Twenty-five seems a little extreme to someone who can barely get five," Hinata pointed out, "No offence meant, Michi-chan."

"None...taken!" Michiko wheezed, "Nineteen...and-a-half...twenty!"

"No halves," Shino said sternly, "Be serious. You're still on nineteen."

"Twenty..." Michiko stayed up for a moment, and both she and Aramis looked at Kiba seriously, "Hey, you're not this hard on Pooriin when she trains, are you?"

"Do I look like a hard-ass Aburame to you?" Kiba asked, pointing at himself.

"Good point."

Hinata stifled a giggle, and a nerve popped on Shino's forehead while Kiba laughed openly. Shikamaru, who was reading a book by firelight nearby, couldn't help but smile; Chouji almost choked on a potato chip when he heard that. It was always amusing for the former Academy members to hear their serious colleague being made fun of. Smiling, Michiko prepared to do the rest of her push-ups, then stopped when she felt weight being lifted from her.

"Hey, Aramis?" Michiko twisted around to look at her back, "Where'd you go?"

A yip answered her, and Michiko curved her back so that she could see, upside down, that Shino had removed the black dog from her shoulders.

"Twenty is fine," Shino said in a monotone, putting Aramis on the ground before turning on his heel and marching away.

"...I think he took that teasing personally," Hinata said, thinking out loud.

"But what else is new?" Kiba smirked, leaning against the tree behind him casually.

Michiko hesitated for a moment, arguing with herself in her thoughts, then motioned for Aramis to get onto her back again.

"He's never going to know you're doing this," Kiba scolded, when Michiko resumed her excersize.

"I guess...th-that's...my pro...problem!" Michiko grunted, openly struggling.

"You're a pushover," Kiba grinned, somewhat affectionately.

"Yeah...I've been...oog, five!" Michiko let herself drop, and Aramis sniffed her head cautiously when she didn't rise from the dirt, "I've been hearing that a lot, lately."

Aramis jumped off her back, and Michiko forced herself to stand up.

"I guess I'd better gloss things over with Shino," Michiko sighed, then fixed Kiba with a reprimanding look, "Since _you_ obviously aren't."

Kiba ignored her insinuation that he was insensitive and pretended to start napping. Hinata and Michiko shared a look; why was it that they were always the go-betweens when there was friction between those two?

"Dog breath," Michiko muttered under her breath, then headed out to look for Shino.

Saneijin is already asleep. Just so you know.

Michiko didn't know it, but Shino also liked looking at the sky on clear nights. The great expanse made all of his problems on earth seem just a little bit smaller. Sometimes, he even had the chance to take off his sunglasses, though that night wasn't one of them; there were people nearby, after all. Shino sat on the top branch of one tree, and he could see Gaara standing on a tree nearby.

_You..._ Shino narrowed his eyes at the other genin, _I just got a hold of her, and now you're in my way..._

_You..._ Gaara narrowed his eyes at the bug-user, _You already have all these friends, but you had to be her favourite. That isn't fair; she's all I have._

Bugs started to crawl along Shino's arms, warning him of Gaara's dangerous chi, and Gaara's sand started to float into the air, sensing Shino's anger. Both continued to stare, not able to tell for sure in that light if the other was glaring, but sensing it all the same.

"Yatta...!" Michiko breathed, finally reaching the top of the tree she was climbing, "Ugh, my arms are so out of shape!"

The Inuzuka girl had decided to work on her arm muscles some more; instead of using chakra control to walk up the tree, which was easy for her, she had opted for climbing manually. With a satisfied grin, she saluted to her old friend, the moon, then sat down on a branch to get her breath back.

"...whoa..." Michiko stopped slouching and sat up straight, "I just felt a chill run through my _soul_. And Itachi isn't anywhere near here. That's not normal."

She looked at the surrounding landscaped, then put a hand to her forehead when she saw the reasons for her discomfort. She just happened to be right in between Shino and Gaara's glaring match.

"Spare me the drama!" Michiko whisper-yelled; she would have spoken loudly, but technically they were hiding from the enemy, and that would blow her group's cover.

Making herself get up, Michiko jumped from tree to tree, until she knelt on the branch beside Shino's.

"What's _your_ problem?" she said bluntly, giving him a glare of her own.

"...? ...!"

Shino took his hands out of his pockets and opened them, palms up, giving her a confused and slightly annoyed look.

"Where do you get off, glaring at Gaara-kun like that?" Michiko explained, "What'd he ever do to you? And you!"

Michiko used an especially large burst of chakra to propel her jump, so that she landed in front of Gaara.

_...her chakra control's good,_ Gaara thought, proud of his friend, even if she was glaring at him right then and there.

_Careful use of the exact amount of chakra and force needed to land right in front of Gaara..._ Shino smiled in admiration, _She's definitely been training hard._

"Stop glaring at Shino!" Michiko exclaimed, waving her hands expressively, "You're freaking out his bugs, and he never did anything to you in the first place!"

Gaara looked at her coldly, then averted his gaze down to the side.

_Good, you're embarrassed,_ Michiko thought, putting her hands down, _Now back to Shino._

Before she could jump again, Gaara's sand wrapped around her arm, stopping her.

"...You stopped talking to me," Gaara asked, almost to softly to be heard, "While we were in Konoha...it was always to see Shino-san."

"Gaara-kun..." Michiko breathed, then shook her head slightly, "You know that's not true. I didn't forget about you, and I'm not going to; I'm your friend, remember? But...I'm Shino's friend, too; I can't forget about Shino, now can I?"

Gaara gave her a hurt look, then looked down again.

"He has Hinata-san...and Kiba-san...and..." his voice trailed off.

"You have Temari-chan, and Kankurou-baka," Michiko smiled crookedly when Gaara looked at her, suprised, "...Believe it or not, they love you, Gaara. They want to help you, too. You just haven't noticed because, well...you weren't looking for it, and they've never really had the chance to show you. You've always been able to take care of yourself. You still can," Michiko scratched the back of her head, laughing a little, "I'm just the idiot that pretends she's really of some use to Suna's ultimate shinobi."

Gaara thought about this for a moment, then looked straight at his friend and blinked his affirmation. Michiko examined her friend for a second, then turned towards Shino again, "If I wave to you, you can join me and Shino, ok?"

"..." Gaara barely nodded, already turning to the sky and prepared to spend another solitary night looking at the moon.

Michiko patted him on the head, teasingly, then jumped across treetops, taking her time now. Gaara, she could always understand after some thought; his problems were a little bit simpler, since all he wanted was to ease his constant feeling of being rejected by others. Shino, however, was extremely complicated sometimes; he had duty as a ninja, to his clan, as a guy...irritating, but true. Michiko _might_ be able to figure him out with enough time, and if he let himself talk or gave her physical cues, but if not, then she was lost completely.

_I really, really like him,_ Michiko thought, _But sometimes, I wish he were just a little bit easier to deal with. He reacts to things just as much as Kiba, only he's quiet and calculating about it, which makes it...annoying._

Stifling a sigh, she forced on a smile when she sat beside Shino on his branch.

"Now, why are _you_ all huffy, tonight?" Michiko asked, raising an eyebrow at Shino.

Naturally, Shino only looked at her before facing the sky again; classic Shino. Michiko groaned inwardly, but patiently waited for him to speak, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he actually answered her question.

"...I'm under the impression that even you believe that I have no emotions," Shino answered after a minute, turning to giving her a dull look.

"That's...not...true..." Michiko protested brokenly, looked shifty-eyed, _Ok, maybe a little..._

Scene change...

Hinata sat on her sleeping mat, cross-legged, trying to read a scroll by firelight. Kiba lay on his stomach on a nearby mat, in a staring contest with Akamaru. Both ninja couldn't sleep; though it was late, and they had been travelling all day, they felt restless.

"Hey, Kiba, Hinata."

Both looked up at the sound of Ino's voice; both she and Asuma walked towards the camp's fire.

"It's your turn at sentry, on the north side," Asuma said, already getting a cigarette out.

"Isn't smoking unhealthy for a ninja, Asuma-sensei?" Kiba asked, voicing a question that had been bugging him for months, "I mean, the Third Hokage had a pipe, but he only ever carried it around; I've only ever actually seen him breathe it in maybe twice."

"Trust me, he breathed it in often, and my training is the exercise that counteracts my cigarettes," Asuma answered, doing his best to sound refined and scientific.

"He's just too lazy to quit," Ino said bluntly, causing her sensei to face-vault into the ground.

"North side," Hinata nodded, standing up with Kiba, "Got it."

And back...

"Michiko. Do you think that? I need you to be serious for a moment. Even if it kills you," Shino said seriously.

"That was blunt."

"I said 'be serious'."

"How can I be serious if you're making small jokes like that?"

"You take Kiba seriously when _he_ makes jokes."

"That different. This is kind of new."

"Michiko..." _Maybe I'm trying a new tack because _apparently_ I have no emotions!_

"You're just like Pooriin! I make wisecracks, and she just gets more serious! Maybe _that_'s why you're going to be engaged."

"Just answer the question!" Shino exclaimed, sounding harrassed.

"No! I know that you have emotions! Sheesh..." Michiko pulled her knees up and hugged them to her chest, irritated.

"Then why do you always join them? Why is it always all against me? Even you, and Hinata! You never take my side, have you noticed that yet?"

"Shino, you're being dumb. I _do_ take your side, just never when you're around."

Shino's eye twitched; Michiko's tone of voice just then sounded as if she were explaining something simple to a small child.

"Would you like me to make fun of you all the time?" Shino threatened, fighting the urge to grab her by the front of her shirt, just like how he usually did with Kiba. But he didn't, because for starters, that would look wrong.

"That's different," Michiko cut her eyes to the moon, suddenly not wanting to talk any more.

"How?"

Shino gritted his teeth when Michiko wouldn't answer for a minute. She always did this; she always played him out on a line, wanting him to snap. Was that all he was to her? A game? The seconds passed, and still, she didn't look at him.

And away...

"Hey, is someone training over there?" Kiba asked, squinting to see better through the gloom.

Hinata activated her Byakugan and concentrated it to where Kiba was pointing.

"I think it's...Daneiru and Rinde," Hinata said, after a moment.

"Whoa, Rinde's training?" Kiba blinked, and even Akamaru looked incredulous.

"Well, Daneiru's kind of hiding behind a tree..."

"Sounds kind of sketchy."

"And he's holding a...what? Is that a camera?!" Hinata exclaimed.

"The hell?!" Kiba took a step closer to the two other ninja, straining is eyes.

"He's holding a video camera! He carried it between worlds! What...what's he going to do with that?" Hinata faltered, not sure what to do.

"That's against the rules!" several nerves popped on Kiba's forehead as he spoke, "That's messing up technology, with people's minds, and I don't know what else...we have to stop him!" he exclaimed, hurrying forward.

* * *

Esperwen: Mm...Chobits...it sounds like food... Oh! Um, ignore that! Please read and review! 


	16. Dealing with Comrades

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, etc., etc.

Esperwen: I'll be on time! I can post this thing! Yay!

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Dealing with Comrades**

"Michiko-san, how is that different?" Shino asked again, once again in his deadpan.

"Because you can...step out of the situation...and..." Michiko groped for words, wishing there was some way she could act out her opinion, instead of using bland words, "Nothing, just...you're the unstoppable shinobi that...you never...when we tease, it doesn't..." Michiko groaned, "It's hard to explain! Nothing touches you! It's like you're on this whole other level and..."

Michiko dropped her head into her hands, frustrated; why did she have to choose a complicated boyfriend? Simple boyfriends like Kiba or Naruto would have been better; they were _normal_. Shino stared at her for a moment, then pulled her arm gently, until she ended lying down on the branch with her head in his lap, facing him.

"...Shino..." Michiko held his face between her hands and looked him in the eye, "I'm a bad girlfriend for you. And I mean _really bad_. I'm spastic and I don't know how you think when it comes to serious, important stuff. Pooriin does; I think you both look at the world similarly. Maybe it's better if...you know..."

"Have you told Kiba that you're trading off his girlfriend for freedom?" Shino raised an eyebrow, "Or have you even told Pooriin-chan, for that matter?"

"Trifles that can be dealt with later," Michiko sniffed, pretending not to care, but then she got serious again, "And that's another thing: you never call me 'chan' if you can help it. Or even talks like this; I love talking to you like this, but it's always ninja-related, training stuff. I know, I know, the ninja-related, training stuff is more important right now. But still. Personal stuff is nice."

"The 'chan' suffix is for special occasions; you hardly ever call me 'kun'," Shino pointed out, "And if you want to talk about personal issues, how come you stand up for Gaara-san, and not me?"

"Oh, sure, bring up the controversial topic!" Michiko started to take her hands down, but Shino grabbed one of her fingers between his teeth, refusing to let her go, "Let me go! I ju...ugh. Fine," _You controlling jerk..._ "Two reasons: first, I know Gaara-kun needs me."

_I need you...My kikaichu need you..._ Shino thought, but he kept that to himself; if he spoke, he would have to let go of her finger, and knowing her, she might run before she finished.

"And I know he appreciates my help," Michiko continued, "I like to feel useful, sometimes. You don't need me and can stand up for yourself; please don't take that the wrong way. And second, if I don't step in, Gaara might break a few bones. I don't like saying it, but it's true; he needs people skills."

_Never thought I'd hear Suna no Gaara being called down for lack of people skills,_ Shino thought, again keeping it to himself.

And switch...

"Daneiru, the hell are you doing?" Kiba exclaimed angrily, punching the older ninja's arm when he reached his side.

"You know you can't have that camera here!" Hinata added, hurrying to stand at Daneiru's other side.

"Shit! Shut up!" Daneiru hissed, then looked back at Rinde, "Oh crap, she saw us!"

And back...DRAMATIC TENSION!

"And...there's no-one else who will stand between him and his problems, right now. He may be really, really strong, but he's not perfe-" Michiko froze, then stopped herself in mid-sentence. _Oh, bugger..._

"That was three reasons," Shino said calmly, letting her finger go, "...And I'm not perfect either," Shino made one of his kikaichi walk from his hand, to hers, adding, "If I were like that, would this be here?"

Michiko raised her hand to the moonlight, then saw that the kikaichu was right beside her scar hole.

"If I had this...'ultimate zen' that you think I have, I would have been able to handle my kikaichu on my own," Shino said softly, "I would uncomplainingly marry whoever my clan chose, I would never become angry or fond of anyone...I wouldn't be human."

Michiko felt her face heating up; why didn't she see it before? If Gaara needed help, sometimes, then of course Shino did too. But here she was, supposedly able to take care of everyone, and yet she couldn't even help Shino. It was always the little things that end up forgotten. The medical mom ninja with all the answers couldn't even take care of her own boyfriend.

"I'm...sorry..." Michiko looked away, embarrassed, "...I told you I wasn't a good girlfriend for you."

"We're still young," Shino murmured, brushing a stray hair from her eyes, "There's plenty of time for us to learn how to understand each other, or find a replacement mother for Gaara-"

"Shino!"

"I'm not going to lie; I just...I don't like sharing you."

"Oo...I feel special," Michiko grinned.

"Don't let it get to your head," Shino rolled his eyes, "Inuzuka...throw them a bone and they beg for more."

"Was that a pun? Y'know, with the bone-"

"No. I hate puns."

Michiko laughed for a moment, shaking off the intense atmosphere she'd felt a moment before. Shino was usually cold and calculating; it was always a treat when he loosened up. Even if it was always only when they were alone, with nobody watching. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Eto...Shino-kun..."

"There's that suffix...is this more personal, soul-baring conversation, or are you going to ask me for something?" Shino asked, a slight smile on his lips.

"A little bit of both."

"Fine."

"No need to sound so snippy."

"Just get it over with. I'm dying inside, spilling my guts out like this."

_If this is spilling your guts, I'd hate to see what makes you emotional and crying,_ Michiko thought, but she asked her question.

"With you, is it, um...do the Aburame keep their emotions tight, so deep inside that it doesn't seem to affect them? And...is everything just so compact that when you really do show them, they just...seem to..." she made a vague motion with her hands, "...spill out? More comes out than you intend, so you prefer to keep them hidden away, since it's safer?"

"...Pooriin-chan probably wouldn't come up with an explanation like that," Shino said, showing more serious humour.

"Then I guess I'll take that as a yes," Michiko sighed, figuring that he was bundling things up again.

"_**AAAAAAAAAAH!**_"

Michiko yelped at the high pitched sound, and both she and Shino clapped hands over their ears; Gaara's sand enveloped their master in an instant, trying to block out the high-pitched sound.

"What is it?" Shino asked with a yell, while Michiko got up and looked to the west of them.

"_**AAAAAAAAAAH!**_" the scream continued, too loud for either of them to pinpoint where it was coming from.

"I can feel it...It's not quite as active as fire, and it moves like water..." Michiko stood, muttering to herself, still with her hands over her ears, _Is someone hurt?! Who's doing that? ...if Shino weren't here I'd be freaking out..._

Abruptly, the scream ended, and after a moment, all three genin on the treetops relaxed slightly. Shino also got up, watching Michiko, knowing that she had sensed something in the elements with her bloodline limit.

"I think I felt air," Michiko said, putting her hands down and pointing, "Huge amounts of air moving in that area. So large that I noticed without even trying; I couldn't tell from the sound, but the air currents are over there, so that's probably where the person screamed."

"I would say Asuma-san might be training since he has an affinity to wind-element chakra," Shino said, standing up, "Only, his techniques keep his chakra close to his special blades."

"I probably wouldn't be able to sense that," Michiko nodded, looking down towards the ground, thinking.

"And that scream was high-pitched," Shino added, looking meaningfully at Michiko, "Girls tend to have high-pitched screams. And that technique wasn't subtle."

"...You can't be hinting-" Michiko started, but she was interrupted.

"_MICHIKO_!" Hinata and Kiba's voices, as well as Deniizu's thought reached her at almost the same time.

"Something's very wrong," Michiko said tersely, then turned to glance at Gaara, making sure he was all right before she began jumping down between branches to the ground; the Sand shinobi was already on his way down.

"What's happening?" Firu asked, the first to arrive at the scene, "I felt this huge rush of air that had nothing to do with the wea-"

_Take this!_ Deniizu said into his head, shoving something small into his hands, _Hide it!_

Kiba pretended not to see anything, and Hinata continued with trying to help the chuunin on the ground in front of her.

_A camcorder?_ Firu thought incredulously, before stealthily stashing the device away into his huge black cloak, _No one will find it here. My cloak is a black hole of doom!_

_Oh my... _Michiko was speechless when she landed on the ground, _There's blood everywhere..._

"What happened to Daneiru-senpai?" Shino asked, landing right beside Michiko, while Gaara floated on his sand at the opposite side, "And...Kiba, Hinata, you're all cut, too."

Kiba threw his head back and barked a few messages to Michiko's dogs, while Hinata explained.

"Rinde-sempai hates being watched when training, apparently," Hinata said, taking a few bandages from Michiko's ninja pouch, "When she saw us standing nearby, she became angry."

Shino looked again at Michiko; he had been hinting that Rinde might have been the reason for the sudden disturbance. Michiko had to nod her acknowledgement that he was right; even then, she made a few hand seals with a defiant air. Even when they were blatantly in the wrong, Michiko always did her best to never turn against her friends, no matter how poor a friend they were. She wouldn't argue with Shino, but she also wouldn't defend Rinde.

"That scream you heard was one of her techniques," Hinata continued, just as Michiko activated her examining jutsu and knelt beside Hinata and Daneiru, "She used her voice to get the air vibrating, then used chakra to turn it into cutting wind."

"And it looks like Daneiru got the worst of it," Firu said, nodding to the bleeding boy, "It's her Banshee technique; the vibrating air makes for jagged, tiny blades of wind."

Michiko narrowed her eyes angrily, and tried taking deep breaths to keep her temper down. Athos and Aramis arrived carrying her medical obi and supplies kit in their teeth; Hinata tied the sash around her friend's waist while Michiko opened the kit and removed several bottles of antiseptic. The wavy-haired boy was cut all over his front; Daneiru hadn't run away from Rinde. His forearms looked shredded; he must have tried to block the technique, instead of run away. And a huge concentration of the technique had hit his torso, tearing it wide open.

_You thought she'd call off the attack at last moment,_ Michiko thought, working on Daneiru's unconscious form, _She's faked using this technique on you before, hasn't she?_

_Linda's pissed at me for not believing that she's a jounin,_ Deniizu said into Michiko's head, _She's doing everything she can to prove that she's strong, even if it ends up hurting the mission._

_Do you believe she's a jounin, now?_ Michiko asked, concentrating her efforts on Daneiru's upper body.

_...jounin isn't just strength. It's wisdom, too,_ said Deniizu, ..._Which could be why I'm still a genin. But Linda should just be chuunin level, honestly._

_She fought another jounin once, remember?_ Michiko reminded, _And Phil said she was really good when emotions weren't involved, like all of us. ...Oh, man, this wound is horrible!_

"What happened?" Kurenai asked, she and Inel coming into view, "Inel-san and I were on the other side of camp; who attacked us just now?"

Firu, Michiko and Deniizu gave their sensei pointed looks. The middle-aged man looked Daneiru over for a moment, then sighed.

"It had been her?" Inel asked, scratching the back of his head and hoping he was wrong.

"...no," Kurenai realized what he was saying, "You can't be serious! She's a jounin!"

"We heard screaming," Asuma said, hurrying to join the group with his three students.

"...you're really, really delayed," Kiba muttered under his breath, then winced when a cigarette butt bounced off of his forehead.

"Rinde just attacked three of her comrades," Kurenai said bluntly, not bothering to hide her anger, "And now, I'm guessing that she's gone into hiding."

"Is correct. She did this as a small child, too," Inel groaned, then raised a hand grudgingly, "I will find her tomorrow, then keep one close eye on her."

_She tried killing people as a small child?_ Kurenai thought, horrified, then realized that Inel had meant the hiding from punishment part.

"Thank you," Asuma nodded, "I'd hate to get attacked by what appears to be a jounin-level technique, so I hope you'll keep her under wraps."

"I will," Inel said, glad to see that Asuma was trying to keep things light.

"How many people do you see now?" Kurenai asked, earning strange looks from the rest of the group.

"Jeez! Enough of that 'how many people' stuff!"

And that's how Asuma and Kurenai got their first inside joke. Switch scenes!

_Hold the chakra flow...keep it going..._

Michiko tried not to yawn, but she did so anyway; flaring her nostrils instead felt weird. It was almost dawn; she had been up all night, taking care of Daneiru. Kiba and Hinata had needed to make do with normal bandages on their wounds; as the only medical ninja trained to the right level, Michiko was the only one who could help Daneiru in his current state, so she needed to save her chakra just for him. Sentry duty was switching again, she could see; Kurenai and Shino were being relieved by Asuma and Chouji, while Gaara and Inel were trading posts with Firu and Korii. Hinata, Kiba, four of the dogs, and Saneijin were huddled on the ground near the campfire, all sound asleep. Shikamaru was sleeping openmouthed on his back on the other side of the fire, and Ino was posed gracefully against a nearby log while she rested. Deniizu was catching her sleep up in a tree, lying on the branch, apart from all the others; Michiko smiled down at Athos, who slept with his head on her lap while she knelt beside Daneiru. And then she yawned again.

"Michiko, you should no stay up like this," Inel scolded lightly, preparing his own sleeping mat, "You have had no rest since sunrise today."

"Soldier pills are my new best friend," Michiko joked, then yawned openly, "Ow. I think my jaw cracked."

Inel gave her one of his patented 'you're pushing yourself too hard' facial expressions, and Gaara gave her an 'I agree' look with his eyes when he sat down beside her.

"I'm fine," Michiko grumbled, suddenly wanting them off her back, "One more hour and I can give this a rest. If I stop now, his wound will definitely pop open if he so much as blinks."

"How many soldier pills have you been taking?" Inel asked, not really sure he wanted to know the answer.

"...about 10, successively," Michiko admitted in a mumble, earning her glares from anyone who heard.

"That is overdose!" Inel exclaimed, "Is like taking two of these Akimichi clan curry pills!" (A/N: Those are the yellow ones. Not the red ones. The red ones are pepper pills, and they're VERY dangerous. ...I can't remember what the green pills are called. If you know, please review.)

"It's either pills, or I leech off of one of you guys' chakra!" Michiko snapped.

Inel looked hurt, and Michiko regretted her tone immediately.

"...I'm sorry, sir," Michiko apologized, turning back to Daneiru, "I'm just...tired."

"Is no problem," Inel smiled, "I know you are trying your best," the middle-aged man stifled a yawn, then gave his youngest student an apologetic smile and shrug, "I must rest now. Do no kill yourself with the medical techniques."

"Thanks, sensei. Good night," Michiko grinned, and only a moment after her teacher lay down, she could hear snoring.

"...everyone's accounted for and resting," Michiko smiled to herself, then frowned when Shino tried to put his hands over hers, "Shino, don't! I shouldn't use your chakra!"

Shino held her still with his elbows, and kept his hands anchored right where they were, while he knelt behind her. Athos woke up and glared at the two people that had disturbed his sleep. Michiko tried butting Shino away with her head, but that technique wasn't really effective; she wanted Shino to leave, but if she took her hands away from Daneiru, bad things might happen.

"Don't..." Michiko whined, and Athos growled a little at Shino, "You're needed to fight. Save your chakra for then; this requires more chakra than you can risk, right now."

"But I can still use soldier pills," Shino pointed out, then shifted so that one arm was around her waist, and the other hand was on top of hers, "But if it makes you feel better, I'll only help with half."

_Sharing effort in a jutsu...that's so cute..._ Ino grinned, peeking through slitted eyes, _I can't wait to get back to Konoha and tell Sakura and Ayame about these two! ...Wait, Michiko said they stopped dating! That means...Shino, you cad! You're actually a playboy! ...aw, but nobody will believe me if I tell them that...that's one item of gossip that stays hidden. Darnit, Shino, wrecking my fun..._Irritated with Shino, Ino rolled over and promptly fell asleep.

Michiko kept going with her technique, fighting to keep her eyes open, now. Her jutsu was taking its toll on her, as all the group knew. He hesitated, but silently, Gaara moved forward and covered Michiko's other hand with his own; he looked away from the two genin self-consciously, focusing on the surrounding forest.

_It's only Mimi-okaachan and Shino-san, _Gaara thought to himself, _Neither of them will tell anyone I'm doing this._

The medical nin blinked, stunned at the gesture, then smiled sleepily at Gaara; Shino nodded his recognition without a word. Of course they would keep this a secret.

_Dammit, Michiko,_ Deniizu thought, rolling over on her branch so that she didn't need to face the sickening scene by Daneiru, and trying to fall asleep again, _You're making Gaara soft..._

_

* * *

_

Esperwen: Ok, I'm done. This ill fanfic writer needs to watch some Digimon, then sleep. ...yes, I'm watching Digimon. Youtube's great like that. OH, I don't own Digimon or Youtube either. Please review!


	17. Fights for the Sensei

DISCLAIMER: I'm in class right now, so make assumptions that I own nothing. I'm worried the teacher will catch me editing, rather than taking notes...

Kiba: You are totally abusing that new laptop...

Esperwen: Shut up. I have the power to kill you.

Kiba: But you never read Alternate Plot fanfics...

Esperwen: And by 'kill', I mean, 'give less story time to and severely maim'. I'm in no mood to bandy words with you, Inuzuka. Now shush.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: Fights for the Sensei**

"EVERYBODY WAKE UP!"

Asuma's voice rang loudly through the camp; immediately, Saneijin and all the ninja, except Michiko and Daneiru, were on their feet.

"What? What?" Ino jumped up, waving one of her fists in the air while checking to make sure her hair was tidy with the other.

"Easy with your dumb fist!" Shikamaru exclaimed, barely able to dodge her.

"You're a dumb fist!" Ino snapped, then yelped and jumped almost a metre into the air when a shuriken landed by her foot.

"We've got nine on this side!" Chouji yelled, rolling by in his Meat Tank Technique, "Burururururururu...!"

"Eleven on our side," a breeze informed them, which sounded a lot like Firu.

_I wish I could be that loud in my complete air form...I'm still just a loud whisper,_ Michiko thought enviously, getting up, then thought when she collapsed, lightheaded, _But first, I wish I could stand up._

"Team 8, move to join Firu!" Kurenai yelled, running as she did so, "We'll keep the west side, Asuma!"

"Will do!" Asuma yelled back, already gripping his twin blades, "My team move east!"

"Korii, Deniizu, stay around Daneiru and Saneijin!" Inel ordered, adjusting his violin under his chin, "You will be the great defence!"

"You get to fight out there too?" Deniizu asked, indignantly, "What about us?"

"Sensei has spoken; do as you're told," Korii commanded, activating his Byakugan.

_I can't get up..._ Michiko thought, barely able to sit up and see Korii, Saneijin and Deniizu standing around her and Daneiru; the world seemed to be veiled with blackness, _C'mon, I can do better than this!_

"Sensei!" Korii called, throwing an overambitious bandit towards the road, "Michiko still hasn't recovered from last night; she needs an artificial boost. She would make a third person to guard, which we would need; what do we do?"

"Whuz goin' on?" Daneiru slurred, starting to sit up on his mat, then wincing in pain and lying down again, his hand on his chest, "Shit...that technique _hurt_."

Inel was feverishly turning his violin, while Asuma and Shikamaru covered him.

_Ugh, I feel sick..._ Michiko put her head between her knees, _I'm not going to faint, am I? If I have to, please let it be in Shino's arms._

_She has had too many soldier pills already, _Inel thought, quickly turning one of his tuning pegs, _But there are sixteen of us, and seem to be some 20 enemy. We do no know how strong they are, and in order to save our energy for the rest of these day, we need all help that is possible._

"Michiko, is up to you," Inel called, using his violin bow as a sword to maneuver one of the bandits to a side, "Be smart!"

_Don't get up,_ Hinata thought, concerned after taking a glance at Michiko, _Please, Michi-chan, you're pale!_

"You can't be serious!" Kurenai exclaimed, throwing one of the enemy over her shoulder, "She's in no position to-"

"Kurenai-san," Michiko interrupted gently, slowly kneeling and reaching for her jar of soldier pills, "With all due respect, my teacher is giving me a chance to help my friends."

_You fool!_ Shino groaned inwardly, but still he continued to fight.

The red-eyed woman examined the girl briefly, before turning towards her opponent again. She had seen that same look on Hinata's face, when fighting against Neji. Michiko ate two pills, relieved that her superior would not prevent her from fighting, then touched Saneijin's forehead gently. The little boy was clutching her, trembling; this was nothing like watching his friends train.

"Mimi-okaa, you're not the right colour...you're not gonna die, right?"

"Of course she isn't," Deniizu scoffed, "You're helping her."

"Really?" both twelve- and four-year-old exclaimed, though Saneijin sounded enthusiastic, and Michiko was skeptical.

_...I can see clearer now,_ Michiko thought, her eyes darting right and left, still trying to keep a good lock on where all the enemies were, _Yes, my head doesn't hurt anymore. The pills are working; I'm out of danger._

"Yeah, you are," Deniizu nodded, holding a kunai out to Saneijin, "You're using this to help be the last line of defence for Daneiru."

"Wai! A real kunai!" the green-eyed boy exclaimed, his former fears dispelled by the opportunity to obtain a shiny new weapon.

"I don't need to be protected!" Daneiru said irritably from his mat, "Get me some beer and I'll Drunken Fist my way out of this!"

"You wish we had beer," Korii said wryly, still on the defensive, _I sure do..._

"No beer! It'll thin your blood and you'll heal even slower. And no, Saneijin's not allowed to use that," Michiko said bluntly, snatching the weapon away before Saneijin could take it.

"Mimi-okaa!" the boy whined, stomping his feet.

"We need all the help we can get!" Deniizu added, with a very similar tone, while catching three enemy shuriken, then throwing them back.

"I know. But he's using _this_," Michiko said, handing her personal dagger to an awed Saneijin, "The hilt is smaller, so you can hold it easier, it's lighter, and the balance is better than that cheap kunai."

Michiko grinned at Saneijin and Deniizu's stunned looks, while she tied her hair out of her face in a pony-tail.

"Oh, sure," Korii grinned, kicking an enemy, "You just _have_ to give the better toys."

Michiko shook her head, then kissed her young charge on the forehead and joined her team's defensive formation, "Make me proud, Sanei-kun!"

_Hey, I wasn't really serious about Saneijin fighting,_ Deniizu said into Michiko and Korii's head, making a three-way mental conversation, _If you can't get up, you can't get up._

_You look normal again,_ Korii added, looking at Michiko with his Byakugan while Deniizu relayed his thoughts, _But even then, you shouldn't have taken those pills; you've earned your right to sit out. It'd be tough, but 14 trained ninja against 20 random attackers should be ok. Well...actually, I think some of the attackers are also trained ninja, considering that Kiba almost got hit by a fireball there, but still. You can stay with Saneijin as a last line of defence, and your dogs can fight for you._

"Saying #52: A true ninja can fight in any state, be she ill or exhausted," Michiko said out loud, for everyone's benefit, and she socked one enemy right in the eye to prove her point, "Saying #89: A true ninja never sits back when there's work to be done," then she added for Shino, who she _knew_ was frowning right then, "Even a honeybee, who will die after stinging an enemy, will do so to protect its hive. So don't discourage me!"

_Your funeral,_ Shino grumbled to himself; he guessed she was all but screaming 'don't worry about me!' for his benefit.

"How's that for a spirit of fire?" Asuma chuckled, seeing an annoyed but approving look on Kurenai's face.

_...just don't get killed,_ Deniizu advised, she and Korii grinning, _I'm not adopting Saneijin if you do._

Remember kids, popping pills is wrong. Michiko's just desperate.

"Firu, where are you?" Inel yelled, having successfully singled out his target, a good distance from the others.

"here!" a disembodied voice seemed to say.

"They've got a wind spirit on their side?" one bandit exclaimed, "And here I thought my kunai were missing!"

"The wind must be skewing their direction while they fly," a second bandit realized, nodding slowly.

"I am needing these to be contained!" Inel explained, reaching into his ninja pouch.

_Whoa...needs _what_ to be contained?_ Inel's target thought, confused, while taking another swipe at the former Sound nin.

"no problem," Firu said, and the 'wind' started moving towards Inel.

"...I could've sworn I just heard a tree talking," one of the younger enemies exclaimed, hearing Firu's voice and watching several branches blow in the wind.

Deftly, Inel threw three of his chalk bombs in quick succession, so that the bandit was in the centre of three points of white dust. Firu knew his job; in his Complete Air Form, Firu circled the area where there was chalk in the air. Now, the bandit was completely distracted by the dust; if he breathed too hard, he inhaled chalk and choked, and if he wasn't careful, chalk got into his eyes.

"The hell kind of jutsu is this?!" the man exclaimed, rubbing his eyes to get powder out.

Inel, with a cloth over his nose and mouth, silently threw two pieces of amber material at the rogue's feet, and made a few hand seals, concentrating. Soon, the violin rosin acted as a kind of glue, anchoring the now-choking bandit in one place.

"Be sure to disrupt the sound, Firu," Inel murmured so that the bandit could not make out his words, using speed and wire to tie the bandit's hands behind his back, "I will not have it injuring the others."

"Roger," Firu said solemnly.

This particular technique could be very serious if taken lightly; when Firu was not around, Inel needed to either create a 'force field' for sound that used up a huge amount of chakra, or he made sure that he was alone when doing this jutsu. Usually, he targeted several people, but they were only allowed to take a few hostages, so he made this an exception.

Quickly, Inel put specialized headphones on, and played a single, high note on his violin. None of the humans could hear anything, but the five dogs whined for a moment, before continuing with helping Kiba and Michiko fight. As air, Firu felt the sound's vibrations in his molecules; he did his best to interrupt the sound waves, so that the pitch was no longer pure. For a good ten seconds, Inel held the note on his violin, focusing hard.

"...Nothing's hap-" the bandit started, then suddenly felt nauseating dizziness. He gagged, then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed, unconscious.

_Good...that should maybe last for around four of five hours,_ Inel thought.

The mustachioed man immediately stopped playing, and hurried back to the main group to help defend Daneiru, while Firu blew the remaining chalk away from the knocked out bandit, before he suffocated completely. Deniizu couldn't help but stare at the motionless body for a moment.

_Whoa...what did sensei do?_

_I've heard of that technique, _Kurenai thought, still weakening her opponent down, _Inel-san uses a pure frequency to affect the liquid in his opponent's ears, causing dizziness and loss of consciousness. That's either a special violin, or he uses chakra to keep the sound's frequency even. Ah, well. It's my turn._

Kurenai shrugged slightly, then called, "Asuma, I need you to cover me!"

Without waiting for an answer, Kurenai locked eye contact with her enemy and held the Dragon hand seal. Before long, the rogue found herself trapped in a tree trunk, somehow.

"Don't bother trying to escape," Kurenai said menacingly; the girl looked up and saw that Kurenai was part of the tree, holding a kunai at her throat.

"Kuso!" one of the rogue's companions swore when they saw her.

Simultaneously, he and yet another bandit girl rushed Kurenai, meaning to get heir companion freed. Asuma calmly jumped into harm's way, protecting Kurenai; in less than a minute, the boy was unconscious, while the girl hurried away, her arms and side bleeding.

"Think I overdid it?" Asuma asked, moving the unconscious one near Kurenai for 'safekeeping', "They only looked to be maybe 15 years old."

"How old were you when you became a chuunin?" Kurenai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"...Good point."

* * *

Esperwen: Ok, I have to take notes now. Kindly review. 


	18. Capturing Hostages

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gaara, Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Kiba, Ino, Chouji, Asuma, Kurenai's in here somewhere, Sunagakure, Konohagakure, senbonzakura, sabakukyuu no jutsu, ninja in general, other people...I don't care anymore! HA!

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: Capturing Hostages**

Between fighting off three of the stronger bandits, who seemed to be aiming to attack Daneiru and Saneijin since they were weakest, Korii and Deniizu were were watching the others fight.

"Look at Gaara," Deniizu said, pointing with a kunai before using it to take a stab at an opponent, "He's up against three people."

"I think he's testing to see who's the strongest," Korii said thoughtfully, parrying kunai by hitting the flats of the blades with his bare hands, "He knows we can only take up to one hostage each."

Shino, Hinata and Shikamaru were ganging up against one significantly older and experienced fighter, while Michiko, Kiba and their dogs fought another. Shino kept the teenager from running away, constantly forcing him with both physical and insect attacks to move towards Hinata. The lavender-eyed girl kept a strong offence with her Jyuuken attacks, and both Shikamaru and Shino kept other bandits from joining the fight.

"Keep that up, Hinata!" Shikamaru said approvingly, "We'll get an opening soon!"

"Ino and Chouji seem to be doing all right," Deniizu noted, watching them team up against an older girl, "Chouji's using his enlarging technique to hold onto the enemy with giant-sized hands and...DAMMIT, CHOUJI!"

"Sorry...!" Chouji called back, sounding upset.

"What happened?" Korii asked, landing a satisfactory hit on an opponent's chest, "What'd I miss?"

"Ino had her Mind Transfer technique all set up, and then she missed!" Deniizu exclaimed, punching an enemy angrily, "The guy slipped away from Chouji at the last moment!"

"Ino!"

Shikamaru left Shino and Hinata for a moment, protecting Ino's still form; it would take some time for her 'Inner Ino' to return. Even as he did so, the bandit his teammates had been wearing down got away.

"Shikamaru, I think I can handle thi-" Chouji started, turning around; he forgot about his supersized hands, and accidentally swatted a hapless bandit back into the trees.

"...You wanna try saying that again?" Shikamaru asked, fighting against another attacker.

"Never mind," Chouji said glumly, just as his fist went back to their original size.

"When Ino wakes up, I'll go back to Shino and Hinata," Shikamaru assured, "Don't worry; you'll figure out how to maneuver better with that jutsu eventually."

"Kiba, behind you!" Michiko exclaimed, hurriedly throwing a shuriken past her brother.

Turning, Kiba saw a bandit dodge the star, and took that moment to punch the enemy squarely in the stomach.

"Can you handle this one on your own?" Kiba asked, meaning the girl they had teamed up against.

"I've got Athos and D'Artagnan on my side! I can handle anyone!" Michiko grinned, baring her teeth at her opponent; her other two dogs were with Saneijin.

"Brave words from a little kid," the stranger scoffed, suddenly shoving out a kunai aimed at Michiko's neck.

With a snarl, Athos lunged at the girl's arm, both biting her arm and causing her to drop the kunai by reflex. Delivering a kick, Michiko saw Kiba just barely dodge a kunai; his sleeve was ripped and Michiko saw blood.

"Hurt him and die!" Michiko yelled, turning into fire for an instant before forcing herself into her normal form while she bodychecked Kiba's enemy to one side.

"Don't transform!" Kiba exclaimed, parrying their first opponent at the last moment and turning his back to Michiko, "You'll waste chakra! And I'm fine on my own!"

"I know that!" Michiko grumbled, while Akamaru and D'Artagnan tackled the enemy girl, "And no, you're not!"

Abruptly, the boy Michiko had attacked hit her head so hard that she saw stars. In the stunned second that followed, the girl near Kiba punched him solidly in the gut with what was left of her strength; Michiko tried retaliating, but the boy kicked her down so that she fell to her knees. The male bandit pushed the back of Michiko's neck down, so that she stayed kneeling, and pulled out a kunai, ready to cut Michiko's throat, and Kiba was so stunned by the punch that the girl got away. Barking, all three of their dogs chased after the enemy, not seeing Michiko's situation.

"Too bad," the enemy leered, "You would've been a cute hostage."

Michiko was frozen; either the feeling of her enemy's anger and hate, like white fire in her mind's eye, or the shock of getting her head hit so hard was keeping her from acting.

_Move! ...move!_ Michiko thought, but her body wasn't listening, _Where's all your big talk about protecting your friends _now_, idiot?!_

Kiba groaned, knowing that he had lost their potential hostage, then snapped back into reality when he turned from the trees and saw his sister.

_Kuso! Can I get there in time?_ Kiba thought, reaching out while running forward.

In that moment, both Inuzuka heard a child barking, then the enemy was tackled from behind. Porthos, the one who had attacked, held the enemy down solidly by stepping on his back. Aramis then ran in from the side to headbutt the enemy's skull; the black fox was the weakest dog, but using his momentum from running, he had enough power to knock out the bandit. Now that there was no immediate threat, Saneijin stepped in and kicked the fallen bandit angrily.

"Don't touch my Mimi-okaa," the four-year-old growled, and Porthos and Aramis joined him.

"_You're_ the one who barked those orders?" Kiba breathed, with a short laugh, then turned to Michiko, "Who's teaching him how to fight too early now?"

"S-sanei-kun? You...come here," Michiko said in a stunned voice, gathering the boy into her arms, "You just...you got our hostage! I'm so proud of you!"

"Heads up!" Kiba barked, tackling a rogue who was about to attack.

"Right, reality comes first," Michiko nodded, jumping to her feet and hustling Saneijin along, "You did good, but Daneiru needs you too, ok?"

"I'll do my best," Saneijin grinned, then ran with his two companions back to the wounded chuunin.

"Nice dog skills," Daneiru grinned, holding up a hand to Saneijin where he lay, "High five!"

"He's a good kid," Kiba grinned, before whistling for the three dogs to return, and Michiko quickly started defending against their newest opponent. The fight wasn't over yet.

Esperwen: The child PWNS!!  
Ruroni: teh kid did NOTHING! he just barked som stuf thats it

"How many uncaught people are left?" Shikamaru panted, standing back to back with Shino; at that moment, Saneijin was just running back to Michiko, now that Inel had returned after securing his hostage to help Team 13.

"Nine," Shino answered, doing his best to keep his breathing even, "Not including ours."

Hinata was still fighting determinedly against her opponent. Shino had offered to take her place, but she had insisted on continuing. Hinata knew that in order to get stronger, she couldn't shrug off responsibility if she was able to keep going; just like Naruto and Michiko, she wouldn't give up.

"Korii-senpai, Inel-san and Deniizu-kun are staying defensive against two people, Asuma-sensei, Ino and Chouji are scaring off one..." Shikamaru shifted his gaze, "Gaara-kun's got three, the Inuzuka and Saneijin-kun are fighting one, and Firu-senpai's handling two. That would mean that everyone's busy."

Shino nodded, then rushed towards Hinata while Shikamaru stayed behind. The bandit braced himself, thinking that Shino would start attacking. In those few seconds, the enemy had focused solely on Shino; he was surprised when he suddenly lost control of his body.

"Dammit...a jutsu?" the teen growled, struggling against invisible bonds, trying to move.

"Kagemane," Shikamaru smirked, "Success."

"Time to finish, Firu," Inel called, then, after looking at his former pupil, he added in a bored voice, "...Is enough, Firu, stop playing with them."

Firu was rapidly switching between forms, startling two now exhausted and terrified bandits. One moment, he was fire, then he would disappear as air, only to reappear in front of them, brandishing his two katana in a scary way. He would make faces, maybe yell a battle cry...And then he would disappear again. The bandits' nerves were worn thin.

"_Fine,_" Firu rolled his eyes, then set about deciding which one to capture.

"AAUGH!"

"HOLY-!"

At the sound of two screams, all turned to where Gaara was. Saneijin's eyes grew wide, then he turned back to the enemy he was fighting with Mimi-okaa. So _that_ was what Gaara-nii was practicing all the time...

"You broke their arms?" Asuma asked, mildly shocked, but understanding Gaara's logic; broken arms were both morale-weakening and a way to keep those specific rogues from attacking again any time soon.

"A warning," Gaara explained, still holding the third bandit in his special sand as hostage.

_Suna's ultimate killing machine is back,_ Deniizu thought wickedly.

"Michiko, now! Hit a pressure point!" Kiba yelled excitedly, caught up in the moment, "C'mon, we've got the last enemy! Get 'im!"

Michiko had a kunai at the ready; she was prepared to hit the enemy with its hilt, in order to knock him out.

_We get to bring in a hostage!_ Michiko thought, bringing the weapon down, _We did it! We got-_

A rustle of leaves and a blur, and suddenly their opponent was gone. Michiko's kunai came down on empty air, and the momentum of her blow almost made her hit herself in the leg.

"Hey, wait! What?" Kiba's jaw dropped, and Akamaru sat down hard on the ground.

"N-nani?" Saneijin and Porthos' eyes filled with tears.

"How did...?" Michiko and Athos said at the same time, confused.

I'm sure there's a logical explanation, Aramis said, he and D'Artagnan looking around.

...Oh for...Athos, Michi-chan, let me swear, D'Artagnan requested, when he saw why their opponent had disappeared, Just this once.

_Ooh, shit,_ Daneiru thought, getting up gingerly.

"Why? What..." Michiko's voice trailed off when she followed D'Artagnan's gaze.

"Mishelly, look!" Rinde squealed, walking towards them and holding the Inuzuka's stunned, would-be hostage by the back of his shirt collar, "I captured someone! Isn't that great?"

_You've really done it now, Linda,_ Daneiru thought, walking deliberately towards the small group, _Aw, crap, I'm moving so slowly...I feel so old._

Kiba started muttering mantras to himself, feeling his temper bubble up. Michiko could only stare for a moment, disbelieving.

"Aren't you proud of me, Mishelly?" Rinde grinned, oblivious to the siblings' growing ire.

"You idiot!" Deniizu bellowed across the road, brandishing a kunai, "That wasn't your hostage at all!"

"How could she do that?" Kurenai wondered, aghast, "They fought that boy with all they had...!"

"Hey, it's look underneath the underneath, right?" Rinde smirked.

Kiba took a step towards the jounin angrily, "Listen, you-"

"It's 'value your team and mission above personal gain', remember?" Michiko quoted, holding an arm out as a barrier between shinobi and kunoichi.

"Yeah, Kiba, fight over this hostage would be 'personal gain'," Rinde said loftily, emphasizing the last two words.

"That wasn't what she meant, dumbass," Firu informed her, carrying a knocked-out bandit over one shoulder to the rest of the group, "She was talking to you."

"I can't believe you did that," Daneiru said reproachfully, having reached them.

"Oh, fuck off," Rinde said casually, "Michiko, you're proud of me, right?"

"LIKE HELL I'M PROUD OF YOU!" Michiko screamed, erupting into flame; her patience was shot, "You didn't do anything useful! You just swooped in to leech onto some glory, you creep! You always-" Michiko stopped herself from continuing, shocked at her own outburst and suddenly was made of water, "Oh my gosh...I...shoot...Rinde, sorry, I didn't mean to-"

_Now's my chance,_ the hostage thought, breaking out of his faked stupor.

The tall, short-term prisoner broke easily out of Rinde's shocked hold. None of the ninja around them saw how he did it, but suddenly blood sprayed from Rinde's stomach; a deep, serious slice. With what looked like the same movement, the bandit used the hilt of his kunai to knock Rinde out; Michiko yelped, then grabbed Saneijin protectively; now she was in her stone form.

"Rinde!" Daneiru gasped, then narrowed his eyes at the guilty bandit, "You bastard!"

"What, she your girlfriend?" the bandit sneered, pulling out another kunai to hold in his other hand, then getting into a fighting stance, _Who to attack first, the underaged mother or the distressed boyfriend?_

_As a matter of fact, yes,_ Korii thought, watching at a distance.

"You jerk!" Michiko flared into fire again, then back to stone, "Omigosh!" she knelt down by her four-year-old, "Sanei-kun, did I hurt you? Are you burnt?"

"No..."

_Good, she still has some control over her limit,_ Shino thought, _She just can't stop morphing._

"Shoot...what's wrong with me?" Michiko looked at her watery hands, completely at a loss.

"Where would you like me to start?" Kiba grinned, then winced in pain; in his fights, he had gathered a few too many cuts, some of which were on grinning muscles.

"Not a good time, Kiba," Michiko said sternly, managing to get back into her normal form.

"Could you guys shut up for a moment?" Daneiru snapped, finishing a series of hand seals, "Slicing Armor Technique!"

To both Inuzuka's surprise, triangular stone blades appeared on Daneiru's shoulders, knees, elbows, and on the tops of his feet and backs of his hands. Recalling some of the forms that he had seen Daneiru train, Kiba realized they worked as both weapons and armour. Very lethal weapons and effective armour, actually.

"Impressive," the bandit said sarcastically, "But your speed will never match mine."

"We'll see," Daneiru growled, his voice hard, "Everyone, stay out of this. This is just me and him."

"Daneiru, you can't fight alone!" Michiko snapped, flaming up again, then she transformed into water, defeated, "What's going on...?"

The young kunoichi finally blacked out, due to both overuse of chakra and stress; her body fell forward, across Rinde's. With a yelp, Saneijin and the four dogs gathered around her, confused.

_She actually collapsed,_ Kurenai thought, both knowing that Michiko's burn-out was inevitable, but suddenly realizing that she had been hoping that Michiko would stay perfectly conscious, _At least the fight is all over._

"Firu, what happened to her?" Kiba exclaimed, while Daneiru and the bandit began to fight, "Why was Michiko switching forms like that?"

"I don't know," Firu admitted, hurrying over towards Kiba's group with Shino and Ino to move both girls' bodies out of harm's way, while the others stayed by the hostages, "I've never done anything like that before."

"Could it possibly be a side effect to lack of sleep and too many pills?" Ino suggested, helping Shino lift up Michiko, hoping her comrade wouldn't transform in her sleep.

"No," Firu shook his head, "The pills might have made her twitchy, but when we're tired, we can't transform at all."

Firu looked down at his fallen ex-teammate for a moment, then glanced at Inel, her distant uncle. The former sound ninja had an emotionless face, and was keeping an eye on Daneiru. Shifting his gaze, Firu could see Korii holding Deniizu back from joining the fight; Deniizu was livid, wanting to help Daneiru beat up the enemy, while the Hyuuga himself wore an impassive mask. Daneiru and the bandit were both taijutsu users who specialized in speed; though the chuunin was wounded, he was holding up well. Kurenai, Asuma and their teams were rounding up the hostages; already they had seven prisoners. Firu looked down at Rinde again; she had a peaceful expression on her face, and Firu groaned while he lifted her up.

"Baka..." Firu sighed, lifting her up to carry over one shoulder, "You never listened to our warnings, did you? You let down your guard to gloat, and look where it got you."

Daneiru screamed in pain for a split second, and looking down at the pain's source, he saw that the major wound on his torso had reopened. The bandit took his chance to slash out and make the wound deeper; Inel rushed forward, ready to help.

"Stay out of this!" Daneiru yelled, half of pain, half of anger; Inel slowed down, then stopped nearby.

_Battle of honour, _Inel thought, knowing that Daneiru was finished, _Rinde, why have you treated him so badly? Can you no see how hard he tries?_

Daneiru knew his time was running out; his vision was already blurring. Summoning the rest of his strength, with a yell he rushed forward...

* * *

Esperwen: And, fade to black! End chapter. 

Kiba: ...that was the suckiest chapter ending you have written. Ever.

Esperwen: Ok, considering that only 3 people read this fic anymore, I don't care! Please review, all three of you!


	19. The Old, New, and Temporary Team 13

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, or YOU! ...Yeah, I bet you didn't expect that.

Esperwen: Sorry about the wait, guys! It's just that I had an in-class essay to prepare for on Wednesday, and a (huge) test to study for last Thursday, so I didn't get the chance to post. But I'm free today! Yay! Oh, and about my comment about only three readers; ok, I was exaggerating. There are actually 19 of you, and 6 people reviewed last chapter, which made me happy, so thank you all!

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: The Old, New, and Temporary Team 13**

"RINDE!"

Michiko sat bolt upright in a cold sweat, then gagged with nausea; the world was whooshing around her, and she lay back down so that it would stop. Dully, she realized she was lying on a bed, inside a building, with her four dogs beside her.

"...why does that ceiling look familiar...?"

"Mimi-okaa?" a child's voice questioned; turning her head slowly, Michiko saw that Saneijin was standing at her bedside.

"Saneijin? My baby, are you ok?" Michiko asked, reaching for the boy.

"I'm not a baby..." the four-year-old grumbled, allowing his guardian to hug him.

"He's fine."

Shino touched her forehead as he spoke, getting her attention; he had been standing by the head of her bed, where she couldn't see him, along with Kiba and Hinata.

"We're in your apartment," Hinata explained, "In Suna."

"Kind of a sketchy place, actually," Kiba smirked, then he helped Michiko sit up, "Had to find a place with cheap rent, huh?"

"I...where's Deniizu? And Korii and Inel?" Michiko asked, wincing at what was promising to be a splitting headache; it was a soldier pill hangover.

"Helping Suna's defenses to the south with Firu; a group of rogues hit there this morning," Shino answered, "And Team 10 is acting as security within the village."

"Onii-chan's helping run Suna," Saneijin said quickly, eager to share news, "With Temri-nee and Kanaroo."

"So is Kurenai-sensei," Hinata added, before Michiko could speak, "Suna's still delicate until a few of their long-ranged mission members return."

"We and Teams 10 and 13 are taking shifts in the two different areas, the borders and the village," Shino said, trying to keep Michiko from thinking about anything other than the mission at hand, "We're on our break right now."

"Yeah, we got the first shift in the village," Kiba jumped in, seeing Michiko try to say something, "As soon as we signed in with Suna's council-"

"Guys," Michiko sighed, having interrupted her friends, "Something happened with Daneiru and Rinde. Right?"

Porthos and D'Artagnan led Saneijin out of the room discreetly; they could tell that there was going to be a scene. When her friends did not answer, Michiko gritted her teeth angrily, and her hands transformed into fire for a moment before changing back.

"He survived, right?!" she exclaimed, ignoring the lump growing in her throat, "He beat that bandit, right?!"

"...yes," Shino nodded, when his teammates were silent, "The bandit's body is in our custody, now."

"Then what about Daneiru?" Michiko pressed, looking at her boyfriend, begging, "And Rinde?" nobody answered for a moment, "What happened to them?"

"Michi-chan..." Hinata began, her voice soft.

"Don't! Just...just answer," Michiko said, defeated and staring at her blanket.

"...his...wound reopened," Shino said in a deadpan, then stopped.

"...AND?" Michiko glared at Shino, "I'm a ninja too, you know! Just tell me what happened! Was it fatal?"

"No," Shino answered, but he went no further.

"Thank you," Michiko sighed, visibly relaxing, "What about Rinde?"

"She's in the hospital," Kiba answered, scratching the back of his neck and looking out the window, "Doctors say she'll be ok."

"Suna _does_ have awesome medics," Michiko grinned, "That's good. Very good."

Michiko lay down again and closed her eyes. They were both all right. Her friends were all alive and accounted for. That was great news. But after a moment of thought, fighting against the dullness that her 'pill hangover' gave her, Michiko carefully sat up and turned to face Team 8.

"If everyone is safe," Michiko said slowly, "Why are all of you so worried? Oh, no!" Michiko turned into stone, "Don't tell me there are more bandits than we bargained for! Is that why you won't tell me; because then I might not take the time to get better before helping you guys fight?"

"No, that's not it," Hinata said, shaking her head.

"Then what's wrong?" Michiko asked, turning into water and looking at her friends imploringly, "Why are you treating me like this?"

"...Michi-chan..." Hinata took a deep breath, "The...the doctors say that Rinde will recuperate completely. Give her enough time, and she'll be able to continue her career as a ninja," the heiress smiled gently, "Inel-sensei kept on raving that the Satoki are hard to kill. He said he was so proud of his strong niece-"

"Daneiru," Michiko said roughly, a dull expression on her face while she looked at Hinata directly, "What happened?"

Hinata winced, then looked at her teammates for help. Kiba was deliberately avoiding any eye contact, still staring out the window, but when Hinata looked at Shino, the bug-user nodded. He would break the news.

"He may have won, but Daneiru's wounds went too deep; he did not get proper medical attention in time and now one of his lungs is next to useless," Shino said emotionlessly, "He will survive, but never fully heal. He can no longer be a ninja."

"NO!" Michiko yelled, "No! Don't give me that! Don't...!"

The kunoichi's face broke and without another word, she changed completely into water.Shino reached out to her, but before his fingers touched her, she fell apart, just a puddle on the floor.

A fate worse than death...

"Have any of the hostages cracked yet?" Korii asked Firu, that afternoon.

The jounin was walking towards Korii and Deniizu casually; all three of them were on their breaks. The two teammates were sitting on one the rooftop of Michiko's apartment, overseeing the village.

"Yeah. Three of the younger ones," Firu answered, sitting beside Korii with a sigh, "The Sneaking Water Torture technique works every time."

"You _have_ to teach me that technique some time," Korii smirked, thinking about the jutsu that Michiko had demonstrated in the chuunin exam, those months ago.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you can't learn it!?" Firu exclaimed, punching his friend in the arm.

"I'm Hyuuga Korii, I find loopholes in everything," the 16-year-old smirked, punching back.

"So, what did the hostages say?" Deniizu asked, punching both of them at the same time to get their attention.

"We got some names, two of their hideouts nearby, and learned that some missing ninja are actually helping them out," Firu answered, raising his eyebrows, "Apparently, the guy Daniel got was a runaway genin from the Hidden Rock. Other nukenin like him have been making people invisible with a light-bending jutsu, then sending them to different areas where Sand shinobi frequent."

"So that would explain why so many genin have been killed or injured," Deniizu nodded thoughtfully, "Light-bending jutsu are usually chuunin-level techniques, so those genin were probably out of their league or outnumbered. Then we've got some leads on what's happening...Good."

"Yeah, that means our mission's already part finished," Korii said, then looked at Firu when the jounin produced from his cloak and started examining a small, silver object, "Hey...is that Daniel's video camera?"

When Firu nodded, his two friends crowded behind him eagerly in an instant.

"What was he recording?" Deniizu asked anxiously, _Something big enough to break our rules for._

"Let's find out," Firu smirked, then played the last clip on the memory card; at first the camera was pointed at the ground, but then it turned around to show Daneiru's face.

"...So here I am," Daneiru's voice came from the device, "Denise, I'm dedicating this to you, and maybe Michelle, if she's watching. But I'm definitely showing Denise. I..." the three ninja leaned forward, "...am going to show you some clips of me, _training with my shirt off!"_

"Oh my! Oh gawd! Oh...oh gawd!" Firu exclaimed in an unusually high voice, holding the camera away at arm's length, "This is wrong!"

"Something we don't know happening between you two, Denise?" Korii asked, laughing but still feeling a little disturbed.

"NO! NO WAY! TURN IT OFF!" Deniizu yelled, reaching for the camera.

"I'm kidding!" Daneiru laughed, much to the three friends' relief, "Though you _wish_ you could see my rock-hard abs."

_No, we don't,_ Deniizu thought, covering her face with her hands.

"_This _is what I wanted you to see," Daneiru said, and pointed and zoomed the camera at Rinde, who was training nearby.

"...Whoa," Deniizu breathed after a moment, her eyes widening, "I can barely see her, she's moving so fast! And...dude! She's using those kunai in some kind of...dance?"

"You will observe her favourite taijutsu technique, Dance of the Fatal Geisha," Daneiru whispered in his best 'sophisticated documentary announcer' voice, "She holds her kunai beween the fingers of both hands, like fans, then 'dances' around the target, striking vitals."

"She's kind of...good," Deniizu admitted grudgingly.

"It took her weeks to get all those forms right and at that speed," Firu added.

"Just weeks?!" _It would take me a month to get that one slicing and spinning move right here! And she twisted the kunai so strangely, too. She makes it look so...pretty..._

"She became a jounin when she turned 15; of course she had to be a fast learner," Firu pointed out, "Most people become jounin in their twenties."

Suddenly, the footage on the camera appeared to shake; the ninja could hear first Kiba, then Hinata's voices. At that sound, Rinde immediately stopped her training and looked first at Daneiru, then straight at the camera.

"Oh, crap, she saw us!" Daneiru whisper-yelled.

"YOU KNOW I HATE BEING WATCHED!" Rinde yelled, then sucked in a breath to scream. The screen suddenly went black; Daniel must have shut off the camera, thus ending the clip.

"...I guess he just took that camera across to get proof so that you'd stop looking down on Linda," Firu thought out loud, pointedly keeping his eyes away from Deniizu, while he put the camcorder away.

"Why just me?" Deniizu exclaimed, "Korii and Michiko thought she was weak too!"

"Hey, you always rubbed it into her face," Korii pointed out, "And now that I'm thinking about it, we never actually said we thought she was weak; it's Rinde's personality that bugs us. Not her...lack of fighting."

"...Do you think she's still weak, even now?" Firu asked after a pause.

Deniizu looked down at the village for a moment, then stood up.

"It's getting kind of late," Deniizu said, walking along the roof, "I'm gonna check on Michiko."

"...I guess that's a grudging, resentful 'yes'," Korii said quietly, when Deniizu was out of earshot, "Think she'll be half-decent to Linda now?"

"Did _we_ ever change?" Firu scoffed, rolling his eyes at his former teammate while hiding the camera in his cloak.

"Heh," Korii smirked, "Then I'm guessing that's a loud, regret-free 'hell, no'."

* * *

Esperwen: Short chapter today, but next Tuesday I'm posting the last chapter in this fic, and it's longer. Ok, review! 


	20. Enough

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters, places or themes affiliated, etc. Disclaimers are boring. Nobody likes disclaimers.

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Chapter Twenty: Enough

Deniizu knew Michiko the best out of anyone; chances were, the young medic was at the hospital, checking on Daneiru. So, Suna's hospital was the first place Deniizu checked.

"Daneiru-kun, you have a visitor."

At the sound of his nurse's voice, the ex-shinobi looked up from his hospital bed to see his nurse and Deniizu at the door. Rinde was lying in the bed beside him, and she grinned at Deniizu's serious face.

"Hey," Daneiru half-smiled, waving to Deniizu.

"Yo," Deniizu nodded.

"Finally, someone came," Rinde said loudly, "Daniel isn't talking to me, the bastard."

"You can leave us alone," Deniizu said quickly, turning to the nurse, "We'll call if _Daneiru_ needs something."

"No problem, Deniizu-chan," the nurse smiled, and she went on her way.

Rinde laughed openly, "She called you 'chan'! That's hilarious! HA! Like you're a normal girl. That's so funny!"

"...no, not really," Deniizu said after a minute or two, when Rinde did not stop laughing, "...Shut up, now."

"Oh, come on," Rinde groaned, crossing her arms, "Don't tell me you're gonna grouch at me, t-"

Suddenly, Rinde's eyes went round, and she keeled over with her hand over her mouth, coughing hard. When she got control of herself, her hand came away sprayed with blood.

"Your laugh must have agitated your stomach wound," Daneiru said dully, passing Rinde a gauze pad.

"No, ya think?" Rinde growled, snatching the pad and holding it on her stomach, keeping pressure so that what damage she had caused might repair itself without making her bleed too much more.

"How many times has she done that?" Deniizu asked, smirking; she couldn't help but notice that Daneiru had three piles of pads on his nightstand, and the closest pile was almost gone.

"Within the hour? Maybe twice," Daneiru shrugged, "So what's up?"

"Well, you ok?" Deniizu raised an eyebrow, "I mean, with your lung and all-"

"If you were looking for Michiko, she hasn't been in," Daneiru interrupted, looking at his hands, "Neither has Inel-san."

"Oh...I'll just wait for her, then." _He's not ok. Figures._

"Aww...Does this mean you're not gonna talk?" Rinde whined.

"Shut it."

"But I'm so bored...!"

Ignoring her sempai, Deniizu took a seat by his bed, and leaned back with her hands behind her head. Closing her eyes into slits, so she could still see the room, but also so that she could rest her eyes, she entered Daniel's mind telepathically.

Why's Rinde in the same room as you? Deniizu asked, _Don't they know she did this to you? _

She only started it, so technically it's not her fault, Daneiru answered, _If I'd have stayed put, Michiko's healing would have been enough. _

I don't know why _you side with Rinde every time, _Deniizu groaned.

She does it with me. You've just never badmouthed me to her face, Daneiru informed, _Of course, all of you guys love me. _

Keep dreaming, Deniizu scoffed, _By the way, I watched your mini-film. _

Like what you saw?

...her technique was pretty. But looking at her now... Deniizu's body tensed subconsciously, _How does an immature freak like her get to learn such an awesome jutsu? _

Actually, I meant the first part. Were you disappointed when my shirt stayed on?

Hey. You keep that up, and I'll crush your mind until you're just a vegetable.

I'll take that as a 'no'.

Take it as a 'hell,no, bastard!'

I can do that.

"Mishelly's here!"

Deniizu's eyes flew open and Daneiru immediately turned towards the hospital room's door. Michiko had been unattended when she found the room; none of them had heard her approach. Her stealth was improving, apparently.

"H-hey..." Michiko stepped into the room, her arms crossed; she looked upset, and there was a grey cast on her skin.

"You're stone," Deniizu noted, "What're you afraid of?"

"It's not fear," Michiko said dully, crossing her arms tighter while staring at a floor tile in front of her.

"...guilt, then?" Deniizu asked, recalling another emotional trigger for stone.

"...kinda..."

Deniizu cut her eyes off of Michiko to Daneiru, who shared her annoyed look. Calmly, Deniizu found a kunai in one of her sleeves, and Daneiru took a shuriken out of his weapon pouch. Both threw their weapons lazily at their friend; Michiko didn't bother to dodge, and the weapons glanced harmlessly off her stone skin, creating a few sparks before they clattered to the floor.

"I'm not blaming you, Michelle," Daneiru said, shaking his head, "It was my choice to fight that nukenin."

"But-" Michiko started, slowly shifting from stone to water.

"Stop," Deniizu said, waving her hand dismissively, "Don't even start."

"But I-" Michiko tried again.

"Seriously," Daneiru growled good-naturedly, "It's ok. I was only a ninja for three days anyway."

"Daneiru..." Michiko's eyes were getting misty; she was going between water and air, now.

"Anyway, while you're being emotional and easy to manipulate," Daneiru said in a completely different tone, "If you wanna help, I'd like a personal attendant while we're here in Suna. You can be my slave until we head back, if it'll make you feel better."

"Knowing Michiko, she was going to do it anyway," a voice said at the door.

"Ok, _why_ do people keep appearing at the door like that?" Daneiru sighed, seeing Kurenai at the room's entrance, "I should put up a sign: Stomp and talk before approaching. Silent appearing is getting old."

"Aw, Mishelly..." Rinde cooed, trying to join the conversation, "You need a hug?"

"For starters, my name is Michiko," she said, her skin suddenly glowing faintly of orange, "Secondly, I only came to apologize to Daneiru."

"What? You too?!" Rinde exclaimed, "You're not here for me at all?"

"Well, I'm working right now, actually," Michiko said stiffly, "So yes, I'm partly here for you."

"_I'm_ here for you," Kurenai said, none too enthusiastically.

"Yay! A visitor!" Rinde cheered.

"I've been ordered to change the dressing on your stomach wound," Michiko said formally, then, after noticing that Rinde was still holding a pad on her stomach, "...so you _have _been reopening it every half hour. In that case, I'm moving you to a private room so that nothing can agitate you anymore and you can heal properly."

"Oh, shut up," Rinde snapped, while Michiko began putting Rinde's things away so they could move, "At least Kurenai's visiting me."

"And I've been ordered to collect your forehead protector," Kurenai said sternly.

"Oh...you were ordered, too," Rinde sighed, then she blinked at added indignantly, "My _forehead protector?!_"

"Inel, Asuma and I have discussed with one another and the Hidden Sand's council," Kurenai informed, "After hearing of your conduct on the way here, Suna views you as an unreliable source of help and have refused your service in this mission. And Asuma and your uncle agree that your traitorous ways-"

"Traitorous?!" Rinde choked, but Kurenai pretended not to hear.

"...against your comrade require some sort of repercussion," Kurenai held out a hand, "You are hereby suspended from your rank and status as a ninja until Hokage-sama decides a final punishment for you when we return to Konoha. Give me your forehead protector."

Rinde glared balefully at Kurenai, but the older jounin didn't bat an eye. Silently, Daneiru and Deniizu watched the battle of wills, while Michiko placed Rinde's pack on the bed, ready to push the gurney to another room. Finally, Rinde pulled the protector off her head and threw it at Kurenai.

"Take it," Rinde growled.

"Thank you," Kurenai nodded, then turned to Michiko, "Just tell me the room number, Michiko-chan, and I'll take Rinde there. I still need to talk to her about her boundaries, and then I'll call someone to seal her."

"Room 732," Michiko answered, referring to a room just a few doors down, "But...seal her?"

"Temporarily," Kurenai assured, "It's just a precaution."

Mutely, Michiko nodded, and Kurenai pushed the bed out into the hallway; Rinde didn't say a word while she left, but her face plainly read that once they were in another room, she was ready to argue to get her rights back.

"...'seal' her?" Michiko whispered, reverting back to stone.

"Don't freak out," Daneiru said quickly.

"She freakin' deserves it, Michiko," Deniizu added.

"But...it'll hurt..." Michiko rubbed the back of her neck, thinking about Sasuke's cursed seal, and Naruto's seal.

"Deserves it!" Deniizu exclaimed.

"It's karma, Michiko, just let it go," Daneiru said, "It's like what happened to my lung."

"...Huh?" Michiko looked at her friend blankly, still thinking about how Linda's chakra was going to be sealed.

"Ok, _she_ doesn't follow the ninja way, so she gets a mark on her bellybutton or wherever," Daneiru explained, "Just like how _I _brought a camcorder across, so my-"

"You what?!" Michiko erupted into flame.

"Whoa, holy-!" Daneiru jerked backwards, away from the fire, "You...didn't know?"

"_No,_ I didn't know!" Michiko exclaimed, taking a menacing, fiery step towards her friend.

"You didn't tell her?" Daneiru asked, exasperated, turning to Deniizu, "And you didn't let me know? I could have avoided this!"

"Didn't get the chance," Deniizu shrugged, relaxing in her chair.

"Like hell you didn't! We were having a telepathic conversation!"

"What is _wrong_ with you?!" Michiko yelled, shaking a fiery fist.

"Help me!" Daneiru's voice cracked, feeling sweat bead up on his forehead.

"Ok, ok, stop," Deniizu said, pushing Michiko back telekinetically so that Daneiru could get some space, "Seriously, let it go."

"I frigging just had surgery!" Daneiru yelled to the ceiling.

"Oh!" Michiko instantly reverted into stone, "Sorry!"

"Whoa," Daneiru blinked, "That was quick. I should yell at you more often."

"Yeah, that'll help..." _Ok, that's enough. _"Hey, listen, Michiko," Deniizu got up and grabbed her friend's elbow, "You've gotta take the day off."

"But...Suna needs the help; we're still getting raided-" Michiko started, but Deniizu pulled her out of the room.

"Ja ne, Daneiru," Deniizu called over her shoulder, then continued speaking to her longtime friend, "They won't miss one medic. It's great that you care, and all, but right now, we have to figure out what's happening with your bloodline limit."

So, while Rinde still gets lectured...

"Overheating?"

"No, I'm used to this climate."

"Hypothermia?"

"You've got to be kidding..."

"Drugs?"

"Definitely not."

"Pregnancy?"

"NO!"

"Rabies?"

"Do I _look_ like I have rabies?" Michiko snapped, now made of flames.

"You're kinda foaming at the mouth," Korii said, pointing.

Deniizu and Firu laughed while Michiko turned into stone, checking for foam, then fire again when she realized nothing was there.

Outside, it was nighttime, during another one of Team 13's off-shifts; while the Four Musketeers ran around the desert near Saneijin's old home, the four ninja were trying to track down Michiko's problem.

"Rabies is on the list of reasons for uncontrollable changing," Firu insisted, pointing at the clan's book.

"Well...another symptom could be mood swings," Deniizu said thoughtfully.

"I'm not mood swingy!" Michiko yelled; then, when Korii and Deniizu came out of hiding from her heat flare, "...Ok, maybe just a little," said she, mimicking Hinata's finger trick in her water form.

"Wait...mood swings, you say..." Firu started flipping though the huge tome, "You're going through puberty, right?"

"Yes. Hey, wait...what?" Michiko's stone form looked stunned.

"I'm sure it's..." Firu stopped at a page, read it over, then tapped it triumphantly, "Bingo! Right beside the interesting pictures. It's all puberty's fault."

"What do you mean, 'interesting pictures'?" Korii asked, trying to look over Firu's shoulder.

"No," Firu held the book against his chest and glared at Korii, "_My_ book."

"I'm changing like this because I'm becomg a woman?" Michiko exclaimed, waving her arms, "Am I gonna be like this for the rest of my life?!"

"No, that can't be right; other women can handle our bloodline limit..." Firu read a few more lines, "...Oooh...you're on the rag."

Michiko stared at Firu, slowly turning into stone. Firu, Korii and Deniizu stared at Michiko. Michiko looked down.

"She's not arguing!" Deniizu exclaimed, pointing.

"So, for a week every month, I'm going to be a walking...changing...scary...time-bomb-ish..." Michiko groped for a word, then slouched in her water form, "I don't know what I'm gonna be, but I'll be dangerous!"

"Then again," Korii looked thoughtful, "I've heard that symptoms supposedly lessen as you get out of puberty. So...not too many years."

Michiko face-vaulted into the ground, a cloud forming over her. Suddenly the world seemed a lot more dark and unfriendly than it had five minutes before.

"Yeah, well...unless we can get rid of that emotional trigger," Firu started flipping towards the back of his book.

"There might be a jutsu in that thing that can do that?" Michiko asked hopefully, turning into air, then fire, "I wanna stop changing! I hate my life! I'm a waste of chakra! I'm gonna cry..."

"Shit, and we say Pooriin is emotional," Korii chuckled, looking at Water-Michiko.

"...I'll have to get back to you on that," Firu said, reading carefully now, "It's not like this book has an index; I need to read through everything, maybe even the other two books I have."

"Can't _I_ just read those books?" Michiko begged, shifting into water, "_I'm_ the one that has to learn the jutsu, and it's my clan's records too."

"No. _My_ books."

"You don't know how to share!" in flames again.

"You're out of control; you're starting to act kind of..." Korii stopped himself; he was about to say, 'kind of like Linda', but that would be insensitive, "Anyways...Try focusing on stabilizing your emotions. No big emotions, no surge of hormones, no random hot flashes."

"I've been trying that. Yeesh...I'm not an Aburame."

"And if I can help it, you never will be."

Upon hearing that voice, Team Inel turned to see Kiba and Hinata approach.

"You're..." Michiko took a deep breath, and forced herself into her normal form, "...really mean." _I refuse to make a scene. I am mature._

"Aw...is it our turn to guard the village gate, now?" Deniizu asked, looking disappointed.

"No, we were replaced by some of the Hidden Sand's shinobi," Hinata answered, shaking her head, "A few chuunin just arrived."

"They must have recieved messages and returned really quickly to help their village," Firu said, returning to his book, while Michiko turned into air with anticipation, "We'll probably go back to Konoha before the week is over."

"I know. Anyway, the reason we came here was because we noticed Akamaru and your pack found something," Kiba said.

All turned and looked at Michiko's dogs; the five ninken dogs were gathered at the door of Saneijin's abandoned old home.

"Why's Porthos shaking his head like that?" Deniizu asked, while the group started gravitating towards the house.

"And where's Shino?" Stone-Michiko added, feeling somewhat guilty that she hadn't noticed right away.

"They found another portal," Hinata explained, "The last time Porthos acted like that, he'd sensed the tree portal we use in Konoha."

"He's been like that for a while," Kiba added, giving Michiko a look, "He's your companion; why didn't you notice earlier?"

"We've been, uh...studying," Michiko coughed, "Um...I'll get Gaara and Inel-sensei," she added, and quickly, she ran for the village.

"So, where's Shino?" Firu asked, putting his book into some hidden pocket in his cloak.

"In the portal," Kiba answered, leading the way, "Let's see...he said something about how Itachi must have watched Pooriin die, so someone has to see another person going into a portal before Itachi uses his own and the portal closes, so Shino went into the portal while we watched so that there will still be witnesses in this world, keeping time here from freezing and time in the other world from speeding up again. I think."

Deniizu rubbed her temples, trying to wrap her head around all that information, and Firu simply shook his head at how elaborate portal travelling was getting to be. Soon, they would need to write a book on how the portals worked.

"Well, my head hurts," Korii said, taking his curved sword out, "I think I'll just kill myself, now."

As soon as he finished, he did just what he said, and the others stared at the empty space where Korii had just been walking.

"...Ok, that's just awkward," Deniizu sighed, while Hinata clapped a hand over her mouth, "Kiba, Hinata, you guys take the dogs and use that portal. Firu, you should go to the hospital and tell Daniel and Linda we're leaving; I'll wait here for Michelle and the others to arrive."

And a few deaths later...

"We're home," Michiko breathed, finding herself on a branch in the greenhouse again.

She had been the last to 'suicide' in Suna. Jumping down softly, then checking to ensure that her medical jutsu had been taken across worlds, she noticed the others were crowded around the door, looking out.

"...Aw!" the whole group exclaimed, just as she landed on the floor.

"What happened?" Michelle asked, hurrying to see what was going on.

"Daniel was frozen in time," Denise explained, pointing vaguely, "He went outside before everyone came back."

"But then you appeared and time started again," Phil added, crossing his arms.

"Really?" Michelle looked through the doors, not really sure what she was checking for.

"Apparently, time still moves slowly if we don't all return together," Corey said thoughfully, "But when we go to Konoha, I'm guessing there's no such rule, since we don't always go as one group."

"Maybe is same rule for ninja, but when going to Konoha," Ionel suggested, rubbing his chin, "I am meaning, is the home world, yes?"

"You mean, if all the ninja don't go back to Konoha at the same time, everything there would still be frozen?" Michelle asked.

"Exactly," Ionel nodded, clapping his hands appreciatively.

That would make theft so much easier in Konoha, Corey thought, then reconsidered, _Wait, but once they stepped into their world, they'd be frozen too. Never mind._

"That's _so_ cool," Pauline said in a hushed voice, while they all began to file out of the greenhouse, "We're living in a sci-fi film!"

"Mishelly..." Linda whined, latching onto her friend's arm, "Daniel's a jerk! He just left me here! Alone! Like he was mad, or something!"

"Well..." Michiko looked away while they passed through the greenhouse's doors, "If Daneiru threw a big, scary wind justu at you, wouldn't _you_ be kind of mad with him?"

"YOU'RE INSENSITIVE!" Linda shrieked, and she ran through the alleyway, towards the streetcars that headed for home.

Trying not to feel hurt, Michelle sighed heavily and shrugged, knowing that Linda's near-death experience had not changed her in the slightest bit, then went to hug Shaun, who was standing nearby after materializing into their current world.

"Am I insensitive?" she asked, in her best cute voice.

"Yes," Shino answered, not even blinking as he put his arms around her.

"Oh..." Michelle buried her face in the front of his shirt, "Well...you are too."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome."

Kyle and Pauline exchanged dubious looks; that whole exchange just sounded so happy.

"That is one _weird_ relationship," Kyle noted, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, Daniel."

Stopping in his tracks and turning around, the Grade 10 saw that Denise had called him, and he raised his eyebrows.

"Here, this is yours," Denise said, handing the camcorder over.

"Oh, it's not mine," Daniel said, shrugging, "I'm borrowing it from Linda," he looked the camera over, then asked, "Hey, where's the lens cover?"

"There was a cover?" Denise looked confused.

"Yeah, there was this black, round thing that went over the lens to protect the glass."

Both friends held eye contact, then turned to look at the greenhouse; it had disappeared to whatever interdimensional space it belonged to, and was now just an empty alleyway. It would be a week before they could find that missing piece, now.

"...crap! I hate being single! Bad things happen when you're single!"

"You're single?" Denise asked, surprised, then grinned and patted him on the back, "Good for you!"

"I'm not really single," Daniel admitted, then laughed at Denise's look, "I'm just going to avoid Linda for a little while until she comes back to me. We do this all the time."

"Seriously...?" Denise didn't really want to hear his answer.

"Hey, Hinata," Daniel waved, looking at the older girl, "Guess what? I'm single!"

Seeing Hinata's terrified look, Kyle and Pauline quickly linked arms with Hinata, on either side.

"But Hinata isn't," Pauline said calmly.

"Thanks, but she's taken," Kyle said cheerfully.

"Whoa...good job, Kiba," Phil said, giving him a thumb's up.

"Oh, so many innuendos," Corey smirked, running a hand though his hair and shaking his head.

"Seriously, though, are you ok?" Denise asked Daniel in a low voice, while the others teased Kyle, Hinata and Pauline.

"Yeah, I'm good," Daniel nodded, "It's kind of like one of those soap opera things where the girl really likes the guy, and the guy is only dating her to use her, but then the guy doesn't actually want to lose her, so he's actually sometimes nice to her, only...I'm the girl...and Linda's the guy..."

It's official. Linda's a man, Isaac thought, listening at a distance. 

"Good to hear," Denise chuckled, "Nice to know you're coming out of the closet."

"Shut up," Daniel laughed, then said solemnly, "But...I'm kind of glad we can't be ninja anymore. Linda and I would have probably screwed a lot of things up there; we'd _totally_ abuse our techniques. But just visiting isn't possible, now that we have real lives there, so this keeps us from doing anything stupid."

"Wow, that's deep. You should write that on a milk carton," Denise said dryly.

"What, so you guys won't miss me?" Daniel asked, feigning shock.

Denise couldn't help but roll her eyes. Daniel's near-death situation hadn't really changed him, either. Maybe he and Linda really _were _a good couple.

"Well...it's not like we can't see you again," Denise pointed out, "And _nobody _will miss you always threatening to take of your shirt."

"Those weren't threats! I was treating you guys!" Daniel insisted, incorrigible as ever, then yelped when Denise punched his shoulder.

"Whatever Daniel," Denise groaned, walking away from her friend. But she had to admit to herself; she liked all of the new portal-users and was glad none of them had done any permanent damage.

I guess whatever power that watches over the portals knows what they're doing, Denise thought, grudgingly, _But seriously. No more newcomers. We don't need any more ninja here, in our world. And we're damn tired of having to babysit them all. That's enough._

_

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_

Esperwen: The rat race is over...!

Shino: What caused the delay this time?

Esperwen: First week, I had tests to study for, second week I was sick, and third week I was...um...lazy.

Shino: ...you-

Itachi: Leave it. Remember the hiatus.

Shino: ...

Esperwen: Right. If you haven't checked my profile, I'm telling you now that the Portal series is on hiatus for a while. I seriously have to finish my other projects.

Pooriin: Is this the end?!

Deniizu: You just _have_ to make it dramatic.

Michiko: Aw...I don't wanna die...I can't wait for my fairy tale to show up...

Deniizu: I don't even _get_ a fairy tale.

Korii: Neither do I. But you get a whole fic based on you, so shut up.

Esperwen: I refuse to end the Portal series. I WILL come back to this! I just don't know when... So, reader, if you're still interested, put this story on your Update Alert list, or ask me to e-mail you. Until then...ja ne.


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